When Emily Craven, a 20-year-old student at the University of Vermont, isn’t training for the 129th Boston Marathon, she takes on another challenging endeavor, organizing the Fig City News Shamrock 5k. The five-kilometer run will be held on Sunday, March 16, at 9AM and goes twice around Jamaica Pond plus 0.1 mile to the finish line.
With five marathons under her belt, Newton North alum Craven will take on her first Boston Marathon on Monday, April 21. The proceeds of the Shamrock 5k and Craven’s Boston Marathon run will provide the majority of funds for the Fig City News summer internship program. The program, entering its third year, funds high-school students who want to pursue journalism. Emily has already raised 60% of her $7,500 Marathon goal for Fig City News.
In the midst of preparing for her sixth marathon and her junior year of college, Craven managed to secure permits for and advertise the race around Jamaica Pond. She said she reached out to running clubs in and around Boston and hopes people will sign up for the fundraiser, enjoy the race, and feel good about funding student internships.
An early education student, Craven said she is “passionate about students getting field experience.” Before graduating from Newton North High School in 2022, Craven took an elective that allowed her to gain practice working in child development, “I got hands-on experience in [a] preschool […] and then I worked at Cabot Elementary [School], and that was a really valuable experience for me to then feel comfortable going into my field,” she said.
Having completed the Disney World Marathon in January, Craven will be training for the Boston Marathon for 13 weeks, “It’s just always been a big goal, doing the world majors,” she said.
“I’m really passionate about raising money and helping others,” said Craven. In addition to her fundraising for Fig City News through her racing, she is the director of philanthropy of the Alpha Delta Phi sorority at the University of Vermont, and during high school, she fundraised for several organizations, including the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network, Planned Parenthood, and Dignity Matters, a local Boston charity addressing period poverty.
Craven’s friends and family from Newton and beyond will be on the sidelines cheering her on at the Boston Marathon and at the Shamrock 5k.
Registration for the Shamrock 5k is open until 11:59PM on March 14. The cost is $20 (plus $2.20 fee to RunSignUp).
