Boston entrepreneur Jason Burke will be one of about 30,000 lining up in Hopkinton on Monday to run the 128th Boston Marathon. But he'll be among a small minority of those who have run the race more than two dozen times in the past.
Burke, CEO and founder of Boston-based All Stage, an invest-tech company that’s developing technology to connect investors and founders, has run 76 marathons in all, and Monday will be his 29th consecutive time for the Boston race.
Even with all those races under his belt, he tries not to let the event lose its magic, knowing that for runners all over the world, the Boston Marathon is a bucket list event.
“I try to appreciate what such a special thing we have in Boston is,” Burke said. “It’s unlike any other marathon.”
The crowd support sets it apart, a fact that won’t surprise anyone who has had the opportunity to run or watch the event. According to the Boston Athletic Association, around 500,000 fans come out to line the course every year and cheer on runners.
Burke ran his first Boston Marathon as a high school student, and when he crossed the finish line, he thought to himself, “never again." But then he ran it again in the years following while a cross country runner at Tufts University.
Now, almost three decades into the streak, he can’t imagine not lining up 26.2 miles away from Copley Square on Marathon Monday, although he says he does fantasize about one year being among the crowd standing, not running, at the top of heartbreak hill, a cold beer in hand.
Burke, who lives and trains in Brookline, founded All Stage in 2021, and was also a founding partner of TBD Angels, where he is a managing director. Burke has been an angel investor in numerous early-stage companies.
However, says there isn't too much of a parallel between running a marathon and being a startup founder, but that in both training and running a business, developing skills to prioritize and push through are essential.
“A lot of what drives success in entrepreneurship and running is doing things when you don't want to do,” Burke said. Whether it’s crossing the finish line in Copley or closing a business deal, the day-in and day-out grind is what gets you there, he said.
The fastest Burke has run the Boston course is 2:38, although he's completed other marathons in less than 2:30. But these days, it’s less about the time on the clock, he said, and more about soaking up the experience.
“Nowadays I'm not running as fast and I generally don't have time goals,” he said. “It sounds cheesy, but I want to have fun in the race, and see people along the course that I see every year.”
Burke may not be relaxing with a beer as a spectator, but he’s got a tradition to stop to drink one with his cousins around mile 19 in Newton. Later on the course, he’ll find his wife and children, and his parents will be waiting at the finish line, as is the tradition he’s cultivated for almost 30 years.
