Sunita "Suni" Williams, a Needham native and retired U.S. Navy captain, is set to line up for the 130th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 20, 2026, and will receive the Boston Athletic Association's Patriots' Award. The announcement vaults Williams from hometown legend to one of Marathon Monday's headline attractions, with a backstory that runs from the course as a teenager, to a treadmill in orbit, and now right back to the streets of Massachusetts.
The Boston Athletic Association confirmed both her entry and the Patriots' Award, according to WCVB. The station reports that Williams will cover the classic point-to-point route from Hopkinton to the Back Bay on April 20. She told the station she first took on the Boston course at age 17 and joked, "I turned 60 this year, so why not give it another shot?"
From the ISS to Hopkinton
Williams retired from NASA after a 27-year career. The agency reports she logged 608 days in space and completed nine spacewalks totaling 62 hours and 6 minutes, according to NASA. The same release notes she stepped away effective Dec. 27, 2025, after flying three space station expeditions and serving on commercial crew missions. Those numbers have made her a familiar name well beyond local running circles.
Starliner delay, a long return
Her most recent mission drew intense coverage when a planned one-week Boeing Starliner test flight stretched into a 286-day stay on the International Space Station. She and crewmate Butch Wilmore eventually came home in March 2025 aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule, as reported by The Associated Press. The unexpectedly long deployment pushed Williams back into the national spotlight and came not long before her retirement from NASA. Race organizers say that renewed profile helped drive the decision to honor her with the Patriots' Award.
She already 'ran' Boston in orbit
This will not be Williams' first Boston Marathon, at least in spirit. During Expedition 14 in 2007, she ran the full 26.2 miles on a space station treadmill while watching live coverage of the race below, an effort NASA describes as the first marathon completed from orbit, according to NASA. The Boston Athletic Association sent a race number and medal to the station that year, a symbolic gesture that tied the Needham native to Patriots' Day long before she toes the line again on Earth. That 2007 run has since become part of local marathon lore.
What to expect on Patriots' Day
The 130th Boston Marathon is scheduled to follow the traditional Hopkinton to Back Bay route on Monday, April 20, 2026, according to the Boston Athletic Association, which also notes that charity teams and tens of thousands of runners are expected in the field. The B.A.A. directs interested participants and spectators to its event information for course and logistics details. Expect extra focus around Needham and near the Back Bay finish as friends, family and neighbors come out to cheer Williams along the route. Organizers say the B.A.A. will post runner updates and race-week schedules across its channels as the event approaches.
Local viewers can follow Marathon Monday coverage on WCVB, the race's official broadcast partner. Williams has said she hopes her run will inspire the next generation of runners and explorers, according to the station. For Needham, watching one of its own return to the Hopkinton start is a reminder of just how far a hometown story can travel, from local streets to low Earth orbit and back again.
