When Melissa Perlman Pros React to Des Linden’s Final Boston Boston Marathon this weekend, she’ll savor the prerace moment.
For the first time ever, the masters runner, who turns 43 two days after the race, will have her name printed on a race bib. It’s a special distinction reserved for elite athletes at the front of major marathons. After clocking a 2:42 personal best at the 2024 Chicago Marathon—a breakthrough six years in the making after an unexpected comeback to the sport—Perlman is now one of them.
Though the communications company founder believed she could be a great runner when she started, it took years of adjustments, an extended break, and a shift in mindset for Perlman to reach this level, shaving 26 minutes off her marathon personal best from 2018 to 2024.
“It’s so rewarding and reaffirming,” Perlman said. “I don’t think of the age so much as just like, it’s me and I’m back [to that level]…It’s a sign that you may think things are out of reach or you’ve missed your opportunity, but great things can still be ahead for you.”
Leaving and Finding Her Way Back
As a junior in high school, she won Florida state titles in the mile and 2 mile, leading her to join the track and cross-country team at Brown University. After a knee injury derailed her indoor track season sophomore year, Perlman quit the team in hopes of pursuing opportunities that brought her more joy. She shifted her focus to career aspirations, joining the school radio station and newspaper in hopes of becoming a journalist.
“I had dreams of really going far in running,” Perlman said. “I just thought competitive running was over for me, like the high school state championships was my grand achievement and running would be behind me.”
Perlman pivoted to a career in corporate communications and moved to Delray Beach, Florida. For seven years, she ran on occasion, competing in local 5Ks, but mostly took a hiatus from the sport.
In 2011, her mom died from breast cancer, and she was getting out of a long-term relationship. Hoping to start a new chapter, Perlman left her corporate job to start her own PR agency. While building a client base, she reached out to her former high school coach and offered to volunteer as an assistant for the team. He agreed under the condition that she run with the girls and keep them accountable.
That summer, Perlman started training again in an effort to keep up. Soon, she realized how much she missed the sport and the consistency it brought to her schedule. After doing a few half marathons in 2012, Perlman was invited to compete at the 2013 Maccabi Games, a Jewish athletic competition that takes place every four years in Israel. She ran a 1:29 personal best while battling the heat in Tel Aviv.
✅ Perlman’s tips for runners staging their own revival
- Don’t push too hard too soon:
“When I was 36, I was not thinking, my goal is to qualify for the Olympic Trials. I was getting excited about the here and now, and who knows what it will become…Do it bit by bit, add the little things each time, and see where the improvement is.” - Don’t set high expectations based on the past:
“You have to put aside the regret of what could have been when you were younger, and accept this is me now and I’m going to do the best I can.” - Determine what you need to succeed, and build it into your life:
“Where you can, make yourself a priority because it’s expecting a lot from your body. It’s a lot of miles, a lot of stress. We’re getting older, so you have to give yourself a little bit of self-care, recovery, all of that.”
Regaining Excitement in a New Distance
For six years, Perlman continued to coach and train for shorter road races, never imagining she’d make the jump to 26.2. In 2017, she started working with coach Leah Rosenfeld after meeting her at the Maccabi Games. That fall, Perlman’s boyfriend ran the RW+ Membership Benefits for charity, an effort that inspired Perlman to re-examine her own running goals. “He’s not a runner,” Perlman said. “I was like, wait a second, if he can do this, I can do the full.”
Her first 26.2 was Grandma’s Marathon in 2018. Despite a bathroom stop at mile 12, Perlman ran 3:09:17, about 7:13 mile pace. Her time got her into the Boston Marathon the following year. From there, she was hooked on the distance and realized she wanted to invest more in her training. “I finished really strong, I remember the last 5K I was moving,” she said. “I was like, alright, I can get faster at this. Now, I’m wondering, why did I wait until I was 36?”
Perlman attributes a lot of her later success to consistency and small developments over time. Aside from a brief break during the pandemic, when most races were canceled, Perlman has since been consistent with her training and reaped major benefits along the way.
After each race, Perlman and Rosenfeld put together major takeaways that are incorporated into the next training cycle. For the most part, every marathon build has included a slight increase in workout intensity and mileage. For example, when she started training for marathons, Perlman couldn’t handle tempo sessions (which are also more difficult in the Florida heat). Last year in preparation for Chicago, she tackled six-mile tempos. She’s also increased her mileage to 70-80 miles each week.
In 2019, Perlman started incorporating more strength training to her routine, a game changer for her running. “That’s really helped me, especially with age, because you lose some of that strength,” Perlman said. “[Strength training] helps my body handle the mileage.”
More than anything, the consistent buildup over time has provided Perlman with more confidence—a type of “gamer mentality,” she calls it—in her approach to racing. “Gradually introducing longer, faster paces, holding them with less rest has just added on to the strength to the point now that I know even if it’s a rough race, and I go out too fast, I’m not going to collapse,” she said.
Half Marathon Training Puma’s Project 3, a new initiative that gives a group of amateur marathoners (those who have run 3:10 or faster) the chance to work with Puma professional runners and coaches and receive gear in preparation for the Boston and London marathon. The brand is also offering Project 3 runners prize money for personal bests and top finishes among the cohort.
Heading into Boston—which will be her fourth time racing the event (her most recent finish was 2:49:47 in 2023)—Perlman is embracing the experience as a celebration of her resurgence in the sport she loves.
“I feel so fortunate that [running] is back in my life,” Perlman said. “Regardless of the achievements that I missed out on because I didn’t run in my best years, I get to now and I’m trying to take advantage of every opportunity.”
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
