The Swellesley Report

Since 2005: More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Low-flying copters over Wellesley doing safety checks pre-Boston Marathon

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Very low flying helicopters continue to buzz over Wellesley and the rest of the Boston Marathon route as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration public health and safety preparations. The flights began on April 11 and will continue into Monday, April 15, race day.

The Nuclear Emergency Support Team aircraft, which fly at 150 feet or higher at about 80mph, measure for expected background radiation. The copters fly in a grid pattern.

We caught the copters over Wellesley College on Saturday, then again in the Cedar Street area on Sunday morning.

boston marathon helicopter over wellesley college
Copter over Wellesley College campus

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MIT Museum, Cambridge

Boston Marathon scene in Wellesley

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Wellesley showed its Boston Marathon spirit on a rainy and damp Patriots Day to cheer on locals and the rest of the field at the 127th edition of the race.

Wellesley’s fastest finishers:

  • Samuel Sanchez finished in an official time of 3:02:36 (sub-7-minute pace) as the fastest male
  • Sarah Given finished first among females in Wellesley with an official time of 3:23:14.

Congrats to all who participated in the marathon (you can search for more results). Thank you to all who shared photos and videos.

Wellesley Public Media video

 

(Videos courtesy of Michael Tobin)

boston marathon 2023
(Photo by Michael Tobin)

 

unicorns at boston marathon
(Photo courtesy of Lisa Rogers)

The Wellesley College “Scream Tunnel,” courtesy of Wellesley Media.

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Chris Harvey, who ran for the Wellesley Community Children’s Center (photo courtesy of Adam Pulzetti Photography)

 

Dave McGillivray, Boston Marathon race course director, on his traditional course run after everyone else is taken care of. #51 in a row! Thanks to the Forastés for sharing…

Page Waterman, Natick
London Harness, Wellesley
Longfellow, Wellesley

Wellesley well represented at student races during Boston Marathon weekend

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baa logoOne of the great elements of the Boston Marathon weekend is the BAA Invitational race series that takes place on Saturday, April 15, in Copley Square.

The Invitational Mile features scholastic boys and girls from the cities and towns of the Boston Marathon course, as well as a field of professional male and female milers from around the world. In addition to being part of an exciting competition, student-athletes get some great swag.

Here are the bios of Wellesley’s young runners, provided by the Boston Athletic Association (if any proud fans read this and want to share pics from the event with us, please do: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com):

Lily Andrews, Grade 8 at Wellesley Middle School
Personal best for 1.6 Mile: 9:41 – Placed 1 st in the Wellesley Middle School “Mini-Marathon” (7th grade girls)

Isabella Chute, Grade 7 at Wellesley Middle School
PB Mile: 6:30 – Placed 10th at MA State Championship (7th grade girls)

Solomon Jin, Grade 8 at Wellesley Middle School
PB 3K: 10:53 – PR’d in both the 800m and 3K in the same day

Jasper Lloyd, Grade 8 at Wellesley Middle School
PB Mile: 5:11 – Finished in 3rd place at the cross country State Championships in 2022

Lizzie Lahive, Wellesley, Grade 12 at Wellesley High School
PB Mile: 5:56 – Participated in the MIAA Division 2 Championships

Zoe Maggioni, Wellesley, Grade 12 at Wellesley High School
PB Mile: 5:36 – Recorded a personal best in the 11th grade Indoor Track BSC 2-Miler

Michael Bueker, Wellesley, Grade 12 at Wellesley High School
PB Mile: 4:46 – Enjoys the 800m run the most

Maxwell Lin, Wellesley, Grade 12 at Wellesley High School
PB Mile: 4:49 – Runs a 4:49 personal best mile

Here come the helicopters, Wellesley: It’s a Boston Marathon thing

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The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration will conduct low-altitude helicopter flights over Natick and the rest of the Boston Marathon race route Friday, April 14, through Monday, April 17, in preparation for the 127th edition of the race.

The Administration’s Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) aircraft—in this case, a twin-engine Bell 412 helicopter—will measure expected background radiation as part of standard preparations to protect public health and safety on the day of an event.

The helicopter will fly in a grid pattern over the areas at 150 feet (or higher) above the ground at a speed of about 80 mph. Flyovers will occur only during daylight hours and are estimated to take approximately two hours to complete per area.

NEST is part of the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation.

Helicopter spotted in 2022 during marathon prep

Please share your best photos from this year’s Boston Marathon: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com