Boston Marathon Profile: Alexia Malone Oliver

BRISTOL, RI — Bristol has five residents running in this year's Boston Marathon. Bristol Patch highlights those runners in the next few weeks. Today, we meet Alexia Malone Oliver, who is 23. Good luck, Alexia.

Reason for running: "I'm running for South Shore Hospital. The day of the Boston Marathon bombing, I made a pact with myself that the year after I graduated from undergraduate school, I would run in the Boston Marathon and support a charity that truly meant something to me."

A Bristol native, she was studying exercise science and physical therapy at Simmons College in Boston. She did her "clinical" at the hospital in Weymouth, Mass.

"After experiencing this clinical rotation, I realized, I need to run for all the voices who need to be heard. I need to run for the patients I worked with in the hospital who never lost faith and always pushed through. I need to run for my grandmother, Rose Malone, who died of cancer when I was younger and I need to run for all the people injured or killed in the Boston Marathon. Lastly, I need to run for a special person who always inspired and believed in me throughout my career, Brendon Rearick. Brendon saw my drive and accepted me, with minimal experience to intern at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning two summers ago. Later, I found he was diagnosed through Dana-Farber with a rare autoimmune disease that is attacking his bone marrow. Throughout all the blood transfusions and treatments, he has never given up."

The whole story is on her web page. She is trying to raise $8,000 for cancer research and is also holding a spaghetti dinner March 31 from 5 to 9 p.m. at St. Mary of the Bay in Warren.

Marathon experience: "This is my first marathon," she said. But she's always loved sports. She started playing lacrosse and field hockey in high school at Bay View Academy, and she also ran cross-country.

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Training tip: "My biggest thing is conditioning," she said. Alexia has been following the training program, which South Shore Hospital developed for its marathon team. She's sticking to that regimen to make sure she logs all her miles. But she's also doing strength and conditioning three times a week to rebuild muscles. So far, it's worked and she's hasn't had any injuries.

Courtesy Photo Caption: Alexia is rightmost in the black sweatshirt.

Are you running the Boston Marathon? We'd love to feature you, too. Email margo.sullivan@patch.com.

Charlene Arsenault (Patch Staff) contributed to this report.