The Atlanta Hawks will be down a staffer when they convene for practice in Boston on Monday. Zac Walsh has other plans. Walsh, the Hawks longtime equipment manager, will be down the street, among the 30,000 runners participating in the Boston Marathon.
For Walsh, a veteran marathoner, running Boston is the culmination of a three-year journey. In 2020, Walsh was registered to run. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., the race was canceled. Determined to still run, Walsh instead ran two 13-mile loops in Brookhaven, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta. Players, coaches and staffers supported him along the route. Former Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce was waiting for him at the finish line.
“I had a front office guy who started it at 7 a.m.,” recalls Walsh. “He was out there for the first mile. Him and his wife. I was like, ‘What the heck are you guys doing?’ And as I kept going I was like, ‘Okay, I see what you guys are doing.’ They were all in their cars cheering. It was awesome.”
