Sign up for our Boston Marathon newsletter
Get Boston Marathon registration information, start times, live runner tracking, road closures, live updates from race day, special features, and more.
Boston Marathon
On most days, somewhere between soundchecks and late-night sets, Jeff DaRosa laces up his running shoes and steps into a quieter world.
For nearly two decades, the 43-year-old has been a multi-instrumentalist for Dropkick Murphys, the Boston-bred Celtic punk band synonymous with packed venues and relentless touring — most recently with their new split album “New England Forever,” released March 17.
Discipline, by his own admission, was never part of that life.
But this April, he’ll take on a different kind of stage: the 2026 Boston Marathon, running in support of the Claddagh Fund — and, in many ways, for himself.
Running first entered DaRosa’s life casually — some 5Ks with his sister, a turkey trot, the occasional half marathon. It had a subtle pull.
“It’s kind of like a drug,” he said. “You just need a little more. You find it to be more attainable.”
Still, running Boston — one of the world’s most iconic races — felt distant. After the 2013 bombings, and the band’s performance at the Boston Strong benefit show, the idea lodged in the back of his mind.
“It was this weird fantasy,” he said. “Like, maybe one day.”
For years, the demands of touring kept the fantasy at bay. The band’s annual March run of St. Patrick’s Day shows always collided with marathon training season, making serious preparation impossible.
The shift came when DaRosa turned 40. He quit drinking — on Marathon Monday, coincidentally — and found himself craving something new.
“I was just a rock musician that kind of didn’t have much discipline in my life. All I had to do was be on stage,” he said.
Offstage, life was accelerating. A father of three, he felt time slipping.
“I was really craving to hold on a little tighter to life or something.”
Running became an antidote — a form of meditation, he said, that made him feel more present and grounded.
Since getting sober, running has become both ritual and anchor — even on tour. He recently wrapped a five-week run of shows while training nearly every day.
His approach is simple: “I just wake up and go,” he said. “If I think, it totally stalls me out. I have a coffee. I go.”
In that repetition, he’s found what he’d been missing. “It’s been a life changer for me — the discipline I so badly craved.”
He trains mostly alone, though friends cheer him on and join him for the longer efforts when schedules align. Even mid-run, listening to music, his mind drifts to gratitude.
“The whole time, I’ll be thinking about how grateful I am for my kids,” he said. “It’s so weird.”
DaRosa ran his first marathon in 2024 at the Mesa Marathon in Arizona — an experience he called, with a laugh, “a disastrous situation.”
By mile 15 he was limping, and an 89-year-old runner beside him offered simple wisdom: that’s why they call it a marathon.
He finished anyway.
“Part of this experience for me is to show my kids that you work at something, and you can do it.”
That lesson reshaped how he sees the sport. The race itself, he’s come to believe, is almost beside the point. “It’s the training that is the true — I don’t know,” he paused. “It’s where you really find out about yourself, I think.”
This year, the timing finally aligned. The band will be in Boston. The training is there. And an opportunity that once felt abstract is now real.
He’s keeping his expectations low, including his finishing time.
His one lighthearted goal: to beat Oprah’s marathon time — a 4:29:15 mark he narrowly eclipsed in Arizona.
“My friend wrote to me, ‘You beat Oprah,’” he said. “And I just laughed and laughed and laughed.”
But beneath the humor is something quieter, something more intentional. Running, he said, has brought him back to himself after decades lost in the noise of the road.
“Somewhere along the line, life just started to fly by,” he said. “I just wanted to hold on closer to it.”
For DaRosa, the Boston Marathon isn’t really about the finish line. It’s about showing up — for his kids, for himself, and for the version of his life he’s still shaping.
“To just be present,” he said. “That’s it.”
Get Boston Marathon registration information, start times, live runner tracking, road closures, live updates from race day, special features, and more.
Gray, acquired in a November trade from the St. Louis Cardinals, was one of Boston’s key rotation additions, along with Ranger Suarez, in the offseason. He was 14-8 with a 4.28 ERA in 2025.
“He’s very specific about his work. Every day has a purpose,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Gray. “Two hundred strikeouts, that’s something that we were looking for. The competitor. Every five days, this guy is going to give you everything.”
In his five career appearances against the Reds, Gray is 1-3 with a 4.18 ERA.
“It’s pretty much one of the only things that is continuing to push me, is to get to a World Series, to win a World Series, to pitch in big games,” said Gray. “I love the moment, and I am chasing that moment.”
Here’s the preview:
RED SOX (1-0): TBA
Pitching: RHP Sonny Gray
REDS (0-1): TBA
Pitching: RHP Brady Singer
Time: 4:10 p.m.
TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7
Red Sox vs. Singer: Wilyer Abreu 2-5, Roman Anthony 1-2, Willson Contreras 2-7, Jarren Duran 3-10, Caleb Durbin 0-1, Isiah Kiner-Falefa 6-16, Marcelo Mayer 0-1, Andruw Monasterio 1-4, Carlos Narváez 1-1, Ceddanne Rafaela 1-5, Trevor Story 0-4, Connor Wong 2-8, Masataka Yoshida 2-7
Reds vs. Gray: Will Benson 0-5, Elly De La Cruz 5-11, TJ Friedl 1-8, Ke’Bryan Hayes 4-17, Nathaniel Lowe 2-10, Noelvi Marte 0-5, Matt McLain 2-2, Spencer Steer 4-9, Tyler Stephenson 0-8, Eugenio Suárez 7-13, Jose Trevino 0-2
Stat of the day: Sal Stewart become the first Cincinnati rookie since 1958 to record three hits on Opening Day.
Notes: Cincinnati sends righthander Brady Singer (14-12, 4.03 in 2025) to the mound … With Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo already on the injured list to start the season, Singer is considered one of Cincinnati’s most durable pitchers, leading the Reds with 32 starts last season … Singer has made five career starts against Boston, posting a 2-2 record with a 4.88 ERA over 24 innings … His last appearance against the Red Sox, on July 1 in Boston, ended after just three innings when he allowed two earned runs on three hits.
Cam Kerry can be reached at cam.kerry@globe.com.
Nearly three months since assuming office as mayor of Everett, Massachusetts, Mayor Robert Van Campen isn’t wasting any time.
The former city councilor ousted 18-year incumbent Carlo DeMaria in decisive fashion last November, but even so, issues surrounding his predecessor still linger at City Hall.
A state-led salary audit of DeMaria found $180,000 in overpayment, a finding the former mayor disputes. Van Campen says the city is monitoring ongoing investigations.
“What I’ve conveyed to my partners in government here, locally, is to allow that state process to play itself out, and then we, as a community, will make a decision,” the mayor said. “In addition to that, I recently met with Inspector General Jeff Shapiro, who visited me at City Hall. We had a great conversation about transparency in government, best practices, putting in the right systems to ensure that that type of financial oversight doesn’t happen in the future.”
Beyond the audit, Van Campen is placing emphasis on school overcrowding.
“My objective is to try to implement solutions as quickly as I can,” he said. “Our high school today, which was built for I think 1,650 students, now houses around 2,200.”
The World Cup is creating buzz across Massachusetts, including in Everett, where the Kraft Group is looking to build a soccer stadium.
To alleviate that problem, the mayor is using federal ARPA funds to repair the old Everett High School and seeking out other spaces that could be used in the future.
“Would I like to build out new classroom space for the students of Everett in the next one to two years? Yes, that’s my ideal,” Van Campen said. “But I want to make sure that if we do it on a quick timeline, it’s done in a correct and proper fashion.”
Also in focus for the mayor is a new soccer stadium for the New England Revolution on the shores of the Mystic River.
The Kraft Group, Boston, Everett and the state Legislature have all taken steps to make the project a reality, but Van Campen says there’s still more work to do.
“It’s a transformative project, it’s a breathtaking project,” said Van Campen. “But I’ve been clear with all the stakeholders around that project, and the other larger developments going on down there, that we have to make sure that transit issues are comprehensively addressed, that pedestrian access issues are comprehensively addressed, that all those issues have to be addressed to perfection in order for these projects to succeed.”
Tune in on Sunday, March 29 at 9:30 a.m. for our extended @Issue Sit Down with Van Campen.
“No Kings” rallies are scheduled in Boston and across Massachusetts on Saturday and are expected to draw large crowds, organizers said.
Organized by the ACLU of Massachusetts, Indivisible Mass Coalition, and Mass 50501, the event is a mass mobilization in protest of the Trump administration.
The No Kings theme was created by the 50501 Movement, a national movement made up of Americans who stand for democracy and against what they call the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration. The name 50501 stands for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement.
“The Trump administration is trying to shred the Constitution; the No Kings movement is an unequivocal statement that we, the people, will not let that happen. This will be the third global No Kings Day, and it’s not just about protesting what’s wrong—it’s about building something better. We intend to show our power, build our power, and power a democracy that advances freedom, equality, justice, and dignity for all,” organizers wrote.
The rally, one of thousands scheduled across the country this weekend, is planned for the Boston Common from 2 to 4 p.m. More than 100,000 people are expected to attend Boston’s rally. Other events are scheduled in Pittsfield, Northampton, Lancaster, Worcester, Framingham, Methuen, Lexington, and towns in southeastern Massachusetts and the Cape. For a map of No Kings events near you, click here.
Speakers include elected officials Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Gov. Maura Healey, Sen. Ed Markey and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, and civic leaders Hessann Farooqi Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, Darlene Lombos, president of the Greater Boston Labor Council, Carol Rose, executive director of ACLU of Massachusetts, Jessica Tang, president of the American Federation of Teachers of Massachusetts, and others. It will be moderated by Rahsaan Hall, president and CEO of Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts.
There will also be performances by the Dropkick Murphys, Boston Area Brigade of Activist Musicians, BVOCAL Chorus, and Jimmy Tingle.
A previous No Kings rally in October drew massive crowds estimated in the tens of thousands.
NBC10 Boston NBC10 Boston An aerial view of the crowd at Boston’s “No Kings” rally on the Common on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025.
Drummer Brian Pastoria, longtime Detroit music advocate, dies at 68
‘Youth’ Twitter review: Ken Karunaas impresses audiences; Suraj Venjaramoodu adds charm; music wins praise | – The Times of India
IOC addresses execution of 19-year-old Iranian wrestler Saleh Mohammadi
Clovis shooting leaves one dead, four injured
Disney’s new CEO says his focus is on storytelling and creativity
Tennessee Police Investigating Alleged Assault Involving ‘Reacher’ Star Alan Ritchson
YouTube job scam text: How to spot it fast
How to buy Houston vs. Texas A&M 2026 March Madness tickets