It’s been a long eight-year journey for Whitehorse runner Kathleen Campbell, but she achieved her goal and crossed the Boston Marathon finish line last week.

The prestigious race that requires qualification was on Campbell’s radar since her first 26.2-mile race in 2010.

Campbell first ran a marathon in Vancouver as part of a Running Room training group and she said she saw more advanced training groups with the goal of trying to qualify for Boston.

“It intrigued me and it morphed into a personal goal,” she said.

But it was a tough road to get there. Campbell said she first tried to qualify in 2013 at the Victoria Marathon, but in a scary turn of events, she passed out metres from the finish line and didn’t complete the race.

Not deterred, she returned a year later and did run a necessary qualifying time, but she said at that point she was starting a family and was unable to attend.

Fast-forward four years, Campbell again qualified for the race and this time was set to make her goal a reality.

“I came away with it like a wonderful feeling of accomplishment,” Campbell said of completing the feat. “It was neat to be in an environment where people have a shared goal. It was kind of powerful to feel the collective goal. I came away from it very inspired.”

Campbell said on the bus to the start, people shared their stories including a man who was near the finish line in 2013 when the Boston Marathon bombings took place.

It was also moving to see runners that night still completing their goals of finishing the race 10 hours after they started the marathon, Campbell said, even though the course had been taken down.

“It was so rewarding to accomplish my personal goal and to see other people inspired with their goals,” Campbell said.

The 122nd annual running of the historic race will be remembered for its less than favourable conditions with wind and rain wreaking havoc throughout the day.

Campbell said leading up to race day, the city was in a panic and really concerned about the weather, but she thought differently.

“It’s just rain, it’s going to be fine,” she said. “I train in the Yukon, I’m from Vancouver, it’s going to be no big deal. I ate my words.

“The weather was really bad. I was shocked at how cold it was.”

Going into the race, Campbell said her goal was to run the marathon in under three hours and 30 minutes as she qualified with a time of 3:31. But seeing the tough conditions on the Monday morning, she said she let that goal go and just ran as best as she could.

“I recognized even before I started that the conditions weren’t good enough to reach that goal. I am proud that I let go of that goal and said just try your best,” she said.

The Yukoner finished the marathon in a time of 3:43:03.

“I am happy with that time given the conditions,” she said. “I felt that I did do my best, took away unnecessary pressure and ran steady throughout the course. I am totally content with it.”

Coming from the Yukon and much smaller marathons, Campbell said the big change for her was the process of getting to the race start. She said it was a long process including being shuttled to the start and then playing the waiting game before her wave was called up.

“We had different start times depending on qualifying times. The whole process just to start was taxing,” she said. “Just the crowds, it was so much larger than anything I’ve ever done before.”

Even with several downhills along the course, Campbell said it was without a doubt the most difficult marathon course she’s ever run as there were several uphills toward the end of the long race, including the infamous Heartbreak Hill.

But this was a highlight of the race for Campbell as she was greeted by her husband Greg Hale at the bottom of the hill.

“I knew that’s where he was going to be, so I knew to look forward to it. He ran up the hill with me,” she said.

In terms of what’s next for the runner, Campbell said she’s trying to think of another race, potentially a half marathon, as the summer running season begins.