Steele’s Boston Marathon finish ‘epic’
Running the Boston Marathon and seeing all the historic sites and landmarks was nothing more than exhilarating says Dr. Anthony Steele of his first run last week.
The legendary Boston Marathon course starts on Main Street in the rural New England town of Hopkinton, Ma., and ends on Boylston Street in downtown Boston.
The most famous stretch of the 26.2-mile course is arguably Heartbreak Hill. That takes place between miles 20 and 21 as the runners race past the Boston College campus.
Steele grew up in Neshoba County and graduated from Neshoba Central High School in 2001. He owns Airpark Family Dentistry on Highway 19 and works with his wife Jennifer Leigh Steele.
“I got into running since I did all kinds of athletics in high school,” Steele said. “As I got older, I enjoyed staying active but started having less time to be involved in a lot of sports, so I narrowed it down to running.”
Steele graduated from UMMC in 2011 and opened his practice, Steele Family Dental. He reopened his practice, Airpark Family Dentistry, with his business partner Dr. Anna Clare Saxon, in 2019.
After he got his practice rolling and started his family, Steele decided to get serious with running and wanted to compete in big races like the Boston Marathon.
“I’ve always been a competitive guy, and I started looking at the requirements to get into big marathons,” Steele said. “I didn’t think I was capable by any means, but I kept them in the back of my mind.”
Steele’s first marathon was in 2018. He raced in Nashville, Las Vegas, Birmingham, Seattle, Grand Rapids, Michigan (where he first qualified for the Boston Marathon), and along the way he improved his times.
When Steele set his sights on qualifying for the 2020 Boston Marathon, he embarked on a journey that has been "very rewarding, exciting, tiresome, and challenging."
He looks at it from a personal and spiritual growth perspective and compares marathon training to life and the Christian walk itself.
“There are valleys, mountain tops, and steep slopes to climb,” Steele said. “There are times when you have confidence in what you are doing, and there are times of despair with thoughts of giving up. As humans, we have to make decisions every day to trust the overall plan, have faith, and work hard."
Finally, the Boston Marathon qualifying time crept onto his radar. He successfully hit the qualifying time for the race in 2019 (which is around 3 hours) but didn’t get to run the actual race since it was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I got to run the 2020 race virtually, and that was the only Boston Marathon that had ever been canceled,” Steele said. “I missed qualifying for the 2021 race by just a few minutes, but I qualified for the race again this year.”
During the race, Steele recalled seeing many historic towns along the course and well-known Boston landmarks. He also recalled seeing several Olympic runners who acted as guides for disabled runners and he got to visit Fenway Park, finishing the marathon in 3 hours, 30 minutes, and 47 seconds. The average time is 3 hours, 53 minutes.
“It’s not my best marathon time, but I wasn’t able to train to my fullest potential,” he said. “I was still thrilled with my time and was happy to be there. The end was one of the most exhilarating and breathtaking finishes of any race. It makes runners feel very welcome to the city and they’re treated like celebrities all weekend.”
Steele’s wife, Jennifer Leigh Steele, returning from Boston after the April 18 race last week, said she can't adequately put into words how special and emotional the past few days have been.
“You cannot simply just pay a sign-up fee and compete in the Boston Marathon,” she said. “You must qualify, and even then, that doesn’t secure you a spot in the race. Anthony killed his body training. He poured blood, sweat, and tears for this and finally got to experience the race on Patriot’s Day in Boston.”
Steele said her husband is the most determined, disciplined, and headstrong person she has ever met.
“He amazes me,” she said. “He has a full-time job, does homework with the girls, does laundry and dishes, is active in church as a deacon, plays basketball in the driveway, rides bikes, and is a wonderful husband that does anything we want him to do. Even when he’s in pain, he still trains and never quits. I am so proud of him.”
Despite a rigorous and time-consuming training schedule, Steele enjoys being active at Trinity Baptist Church and spending time with his wife and his daughters, Charliegh and Caroline Steele.
“Just keep chasing your dreams, and you can succeed at anything you put your mind to,” Steele said. “I want to thank everyone who offered me words of encouragement and supported me along the way. It was epic.”
Steele said he has run the Heart O’ Dixie triathlon at least 10 times and first took part in the race in 2001. That year he won the Dickie Nowell Memorial Award, which is given to the first Neshoba county finisher in the race.
“It’s one of the most unique triathlons in the country, and it’s a hometown race," Steele said. "It’s always fun to go out with others you train with all year long and have fun together. It’s always a memorable race and you can always count on the hills and the heat.”
During the Boston Marathon, Steele said he saw many historic towns and landmarks such as Hopkinton, where the marathon started, and ran through several more places such as Boston College, the city of Newton, and saw historic old railroad system.
“I saw the historic Citco sign, along with Fenway Park, the Boston Commons, the house of Paul Revere, and the old streets of Beacon Hill,” Steele said “I got to see all kinds of memorials dating back to colonial times when the country was founded. I would love to go back since I wasn’t able to see everything.”