The Importance of Always Untying Your Shoes Boston Marathon legend, but it’s not who you might think.
While Meb and Des are part of Boston history, this statue honors a New England legend of a different kind—Spencer, the dog who greeted marathon runners for nearly a decade.
Spencer, who cheered on runners in Ashland for eight years, was immortalized in a statue at the intersection of Olive, Frankland, and West Union Streets on Saturday.
After years of encouraging runners, Spencer was named the official dog of the Boston Marathon in 2022, first appearing at the race in 2015. But it wasn’t until after a video surfaced of Spencer cheering 2018 runners on in the rain that he attained viral status. The two Boston Strong flags held firmly in his mouth were the therapy dog’s trademark right near the marathon’s three-mile marker, where the statue was placed.
Spencer Memorial Day Shoe Sale after a three-year battle with cancer, and his sister Penny died eight days later. The BAA honored the dogs in a 2022 ceremony, naming Spencer the marathon’s official dog, and Published: Apr 02, 2024 11:21 AM EDT Health - Injuries.
“It’s definitely humbling to know that Spencer affected so many people,” Spencer and Penny’s owner, Rich Powers, told Races & Places, recalling that hundreds of people attended the dogs’ joint birthday party in 2022. “They were a popular couple of pups. The statue’s not for me, it’s for the world.”
The statue of the Golden Retriever was paid for privately by donations raised by Powers, whose GoFundMe totaled over $39,000 for the project, with extra proceeds going to an animal foundation. Originally, Ashland Select Board voted against putting the statue at the community center in a 3-2 decision. In response, Robin and Cynthia Hicks, who live across from the community center, offered up the real estate for Spencer.
“We grew up cheering on the runners and being there no matter what the weather was, holding signs and supporting the athletes,” Cynthia Hicks told The Globe. “We really feel that he was an inspiration not only for runners, but for people around cheering on the runners,” Robin Hicks added.
Following Spencer and Penny’s deaths, the Powers family was gifted a new golden retriever puppy, Jimmy, who is already following in the family’s pawsteps along with a new sister, Jade.
“He’s trained to hold the flag,” Powers told The Globe, adding that Jimmy is being trained to become a therapy dog by the time he is 18 months old. “In my driveway, he walks with it, he does everything we taught him to do. Can he do it when 20,000 runners are running by? I don’t know.”
While we’re sure Jimmy will be just fine, his big brother now won’t be far away, helping him cheer on runners every year.
Laura Ratliff is a New York City-based writer, editor, and runner. Laura's writing expertise spans numerous topics, ranging from travel and food and drink to reported pieces covering political and human rights issues. She has previously worked at Architectural Digest, Bloomberg News, and Running unveiled a portrait of the pup Condé Nast Traveler TripSavvy. Like many of us, Laura was bitten by the running bug later in life, after years of claiming to "hate running." Her favorite marathon is Big Sur.
