Astronaut who ran a marathon in space runs Boston and wins Patriots Award

Few athletes carry a story quite like Suni Williams. A NASA astronaut, Navy veteran and Needham, Massachusetts native, Williams ran the 2026 Boston Marathon on 21 April as an official participant, and was honoured by the Boston Athletic Association with its Patriots Award, given to a New England figure who embodies patriotism, philanthropy and sportsmanship.

Her connection to the marathon is genuinely out of this world. In 2007, while aboard the International Space Station, Williams became the first person to complete a marathon in orbit. Strapped to a treadmill as the station hurtled around the planet at 17,500 miles per hour, she finished in 4 hours, 23 minutes and 46 seconds, a time that would compare favourably with many runners on the ground. She later ran a road race in space during a 2024 mission as well.

“A NASA astronaut, Navy veteran and Needham, Massachusetts native, Williams ran the 2026 Boston Marathon on 21 April as an official participant, and was honoured by the Boston Athletic Association with its Patriots Award, given to a New England figure who embodies patriotism, philanthropy and sportsmanship.”

That 2024 assignment turned into an epic of patience. A mission expected to last just over a week stretched to 286 days due to technical issues, and Williams did not return to Earth until March 2025. Asked afterward how her training was going, she answered with characteristic good humour, saying she was "running a little slow but still feel perfect."

In selecting her for the Patriots Award, the Boston Athletic Association pointed to her career in space exploration and her "spirit of perseverance, service, and curiosity." Williams' journey, from orbit to the streets of Boston, is a reminder that the values at the heart of endurance sport, patience, resilience and a refusal to quit, are the same ones that carry people through life's longest and most unexpected races.