Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Brooke Gyori, a 2015 graduate of Clay High School, became one of just over 12,500 women to compete in this year’s Boston Marathon on April 20. In doing so, she joined her brother Derek in becoming alumni of the prestigious race as the two have formed a special bond through the sport.
“It was truly an incredible experience getting to toe line and have fun out there in one of the most historic marathons,” Brooke Gyori said. “I'm grateful. It took a lot of time and dedication to get to that point. The atmosphere out there is amazing. The energy and the crowd support is constant throughout the entire course. It was an amazing experience.”
Brooke’s older brother, Derek, is a 2010 graduate of Clay who previously ran the race three times from 2022-24. Brooke was there as a spectator to support her brother in 2022 the first time Derek ran in it, and Derek returned the favor this year.
Derek set a personal record time in his second Boston Marathon in 2023, running a sub 2:45 in a race that finished with pouring rain. The following year was a scorcher, which he said wasn’t his best race. With that, he said it was quite the experience watching his sister complete the race.
“I really enjoyed getting to see her have kind of that perfect day for running and to kind of walk her through the course,” he said. “In my mind, as she was kind of passing through the different cities along the Boston Marathon course, I could kind of picture in my head where she was at. She was going downhill. When she got to Newton, she was hitting the major hills of the race.
“And then getting to see her turn onto Boylston Street was actually really emotional. It kind of made me teary eyed just thinking about how cool it is to run the Boston Marathon and to say that you finished and you ran one of the toughest marathons, but also one of the most respected marathons within the running world. I was actually on the corner of Boylston and Hereford, and when she turned the corner, we just had caught her. She was running pretty darn fast for her last mile, and it just made me kind of get all those emotions, like I'm ready to be back out on the course, ready to run the Boston Marathon again at some point. That's what was really exciting about that race. I was just super proud to have another family member kind of be a Boston Marathoner because it's a really cool feeling.”
The pair started running while in school growing up in Oregon. Derek started running cross country in his sophomore year, and Brooke ran cross country at Clay while in middle school and high school.
The sport has helped them grow closer.
“We ultimately were always running with each other,” Derek Gyori said. “As much as people like to think we're the twins of the family, we're not, but we are definitely both very competitive, and we're also very supportive. And one thing with running, especially here in Toledo, is the community is always great. But there are also a lot of people who are still very competitive with themselves.
“Both Brooke and I are that way. We're always trying to get faster, get better, and I think that's something that's a cool dynamic between both of us because even though I have been taking a break from running, I'm still able to be out there supporting her, really pushing her to get a little bit faster, maybe run a little bit longer.
“That's something really cool, just to have a family member that is also a big runner. I really enjoy that because we can pick up and go on a long run together. I can bike with her when she's long running, or she can bike with me.”
Brooke even traveled to Berlin, Germany to support her brother when he ran the Berlin Marathon.
“Usually we're always there for each other,” Derek Gyori said. “That was a really fun trip, but she also made her way around Berlin while I was running, trying to get to different spots, which just shows the supportive nature between both of us. It's just really cool. That's what I wanted it to be when she was training for her Boston qualification and then running the Boston Marathon. She was there for my first Boston marathon, and it’s something we've always been with each other. We’re very supportive and really pushing our boundaries and getting faster, as well as running a little bit longer.”
Brooke said the same thing as her brother and added that there’s not even any fun trash talking. It’s just a really supportive relationship.
“My brother and I, we have a special bond with a shared love for running, so being able to look to him for running advice and go on runs together is great,” Brooke Gyori said. “We continue to support each other in those ways.”
Ultimately, Brooke ran a 3:12:34 net time at this year’s Boston Marathon, which featured 32,192 overall entries. She qualified for the event with a 3:14:49.18 chip time in the 2025 Glass City Marathon. In fact, among her 25-29 age group, she finished sixth in that race.
She arrived in Boston two days prior to the race just to get acclimated and go to the expo, pick up her bib, and get the full experience.
“I ended up staying a few days longer just to explore Boston because I didn't get to experience that the first time,” she said.
Brooke really started becoming motivated to compete in the Boston Marathon after competing in the Indianapolis Marathon in November 2024.
“After I completed my first (marathon), I knew that Boston qualifying was achievable, and it was a goal of mine to qualify the following spring,” she said.
After doing just that last year, Brooke completed a 16-week training cycle for this year’s Boston Marathon, which included weekly speed workouts, some marathon pace workouts, and long runs each week. She would run anywhere from five to seven days per week.
“This training cycle, I definitely trained much harder and challenged myself more,” she said. “I knew I could run faster than my goal pace that I ran for Glass City, but running Boston, it's a tough and challenging course. I just went out there, was a little more conservative, trusted my training, and put it all out there to run a little faster than my prior marathon.”
Really, though, seeing her brother compete in the race for the first time in 2022 also provided some motivation for Brooke.
“Being a spectator, you just get to experience all of the crowd support, everyone cheering,” she said. “Right near the finish line, it's jam-packed, just layers of people the entire way, and that's kind of how the whole course is. Just getting to experience it as a spectator was inspiring, and then as a participant, it meant so much more. It was very motivating, and it made me want to chase that goal even more.
“Everyone was talking about how amazing the experience was as a participant, and just being out there and seeing it for myself was just truly incredible — the atmosphere, the energy, and support that you receive and experience is inspiring as a runner. It’s uplifting.”
Brooke, who was a National Junior College Athletic Association All-American as a libero on the Owens Community College volleyball team before competing at the University of Tennessee at Martin in the NCAA Division I level, said her goal of just running any marathon likely started post grad school.
“Once I had a little more free time, I wanted to stay active, and running was something I enjoyed and a way to stay fit,” she said. “I started running probably just for fun, and I wasn't a great runner in middle school. It was always my secondary sport. I just always enjoyed running, and I met some lifelong best friends from the sport.”
When Brooke was competing for UT Martin, Derek used to travel to Tennessee to watch her while he was in residency, which adds to how much their relationship has grown.
“We were always close,” Derek Gyori said. “It's funny. Our parents always thought we were more alike between all of (our) siblings, and if you put Brooke and I next to each other, we actually look like we should be twins, but we're actually different ages.
“(Running) is definitely something that has brought us closer. It's now a sport we can do without really having to be affiliated with anything. We can just pick up and run, and that's definitely something. We talk about running plans and training, and Brooke's always picking my brain, like how far should I run? What type of workout should I do? We're both always in communication with each other, always talking about ways to get better and ways to do fun things with running.
“We always go to the brewery runs around Toledo. We go to group runs with different running stores like Dave's and Fleet Feet and Second Sole. We just continue to get involved with the community and really support each other in the running.”
Now that they’ve both competed in the Boston Marathon, the siblings have a goal of one day competing together in the race.
“Absolutely, I think that's the goal,” Derek Gyori said. “One of my goals is to run all the world majors, but one of my favorite races to ever run is the Boston Marathon. I’ve ran four of the seven world majors now, and Boston by far (is the best). It's just the camaraderie on the course, the feeling within Boston the entire weekend is just super, super cool and super exciting. I'm ready to go back. I know Brooke wants to go back, and we're both going to be gunning for some good times in the near future here. I’m just really looking forward to potentially getting on the course with her and hopefully chasing down another PR at the Boston Marathon.”
