Mr. Dave McGillivray

The race director of the Boston Marathon, McGillivray has run the marathon each year since 1973. For 15 years he ran it with all of its runners. Since he began working for the marathon in 1988, he has run the course afterwards. McGillivray has logged more than 150,000 miles in 160 marathons, most for charity, raising millions for worthy causes. He first became well-known in 1978 when, over the course of 80 consecutive days, he ran across the U.S. from Medford, Oregon, to his hometown of Medford, Massachusetts. Covering a total distance of 3,452 miles, he raised thousands of dollars for the Jimmy Fund, a charity that funds research to cure cancer in children. Also an accomplished triathlete (running, cycling and swimming), in 1980 McGillivray became the 30th person to have ever competed in the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon, the premier individual endurance event in the world. He finished 14th overall and has since completed the event eight additional times. Author of the autobiographical work, The Last Pick, Mr. McGillivray also published a children’s book based on the autobiography, Dream Big: A True Story of Courage and Determination. His second children’s book, about his 1978 run across the country, debuted in 2019. It is titled, Running Across America: A True Story of Dreams, Determination, and Heading for Home. And a third children’s book will be published in March titled Finish Strong: Seven Marathons, Seven Continents, Seven Days.