It may not have been a silver medal, but Daniel Anter is pretty satisfied with his silver anniversary of running the Boston Marathon.  The Cowesett based runner crossed the Beantown finish line for the 25th time on April 17, earning him unique status within the marathon community.

“Boston is one of the few marathons which require racers to qualify,” Anter explained.  “Once you’ve managed to finish the race 25 times consecutively, you get legacy status and no longer need to submit a qualifying time.  As long as you keep showing up and continue making it across the finish line, you’re automatically qualified for the next year.”

Known as the Quarter Century Club, this elite group of runners numbers only 200 - a mere fraction of the (pre-pandemic) average of 30,000 runners a year which the race attracts.  Approximately half of the club’s membership competes each year, including the current record holder - former race director Dave McGillivary, who completed his 51st race this year.  Members of the QCC gather for social events during Marathon weekend, and often travel together to the race.  The free qualification is the real benefit for Anter, however.

“There aren’t that many marathons in the world that can be used to qualify for Boston,” he said.  “In fact, a lot of marathons specifically promote themselves as being Boston qualifiers.  But having to commit to two races a year like that is tough.”

Although he admits he is not quite as quick as he was in his first marathon in 1998, Anter still finished the race with a respectable 3:33:01.  His personal record was 2:55:32 in 2006.  He presented the medal he received for finishing in fewer than three hours to his mother.

“She kept it in a memento box by her bed until she passed away the next year,” he said.  “She went to all of my races from 1999 until she died, and it was an important memory for both of us. I know that if she were still here, my mom would be the first one smiling with a clenched fist as I turned from Hereford Street to Boylston Street and headed to the finish.”

Anter’s mother also inspired his choice of a charity to support.  “She was an oncology nurse, and cancer prevention was an important cause for her,” he remembered.  “She was always reminding others to put on sunblock, making sure nobody in the family was smoking, anything she could do to keep people healthy.  So I felt a real connection when I saw Impact Melanoma was looking for runners.”

The choice came with its own challenges, however.

“There were a few charities with lower buy-ins, but I really felt like my mom would have wanted me to pick this one,” he said.  “I had to commit to raising $10,000, which was a bit intimidating.  If you can’t find sponsors or if you don’t finish the race, you can end up footing the whole bill yourself.  Fortunately I had a lot of support, both online and from friends and family.”

According to his crowd-sourced funding page, Anter raised a total of $10,603 for the foundation.  Although this would be quite a successful note to end on, Anter has no intention of hanging up his sneakers yet.

“I want to keep at it for as long as I can continue making it to the finish line,” he said.  “I’m going to see how long I can keep this streak going.”