- Chara finished the 2026 Boston Marathon in 3:18:00, a new personal best
- The former Bruins captain shaved more than 12 minutes off his 2024 time
- Read below for details on his honorary starter duties and charity run
Zdeno Chara keeps finding new ways to one-up himself on the Boston Marathon course.
The former Bruins captain crossed the finish line on Monday in 3:18:00, a new personal best and an improvement of more than 12 minutes on his 2024 time. He finished the 2023 race in 3:38 and the 2024 edition in 3:30, so the trajectory is pretty obvious.
Before the race, Chara took the honorary starter role and fired off the starting pistol. Then the 6-foot-9 Hall of Fame defenseman stepped onto the course and ran the thing himself.
This was his third Boston Marathon in four years. Injury knocked him out of the 2025 event.
By Olympics.com’s count, Monday’s run was also his ninth marathon in the past 15 months. That is a ridiculous workload for anyone, let alone a retired hockey player still carrying around a frame built for the blue line.
Chara ran for the Thomas E. Smith Foundation, a charity that supports people affected by paralysis. He has raised money for the cause in previous Boston runs as well.
Chara retired in 2022 after 24 NHL seasons, the last 14 spent in a Bruins sweater. He captained Boston to the 2011 Stanley Cup, won the Norris Trophy in 2009 and holds the record for the hardest shot in All-Star skills competition history at 108.8 mph. The pivot to distance running started almost immediately after his final game.
Bruins fans needed some good news on Monday. Boston dropped Game 1 of its playoff series against the Sabres on Sunday night, so a Patriots’ Day moment from the last captain to hoist a Cup in this city was more than welcome.
