Burnt Hills native sets Guinness record as she raises awareness for nurses’ mental health in Boston Marathon

BURNT HILLS – Samantha Roecker, a former Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School and Providence College standout, as well as an Olympic hopeful, can now add another feather to her cap: She is the fastest person ever to run a marathon in scrubs. 

Roecker, 30, completed Monday’s Boston Marathon while wearing a set of Moxie Scrubs in 2:48:02, eclipsing the previous such Guinness World Records mark of 3:08:22.

Roecker’s mission, as profiled in Sunday’s Daily Gazette, was to raise awareness and money in support of healthcare workers’ mental health and well-being. As of Tuesday, Roecker’s fundraising efforts had collected nearly $45,000 for the American Nurses Foundation’s Well-Being Initiative programs, supporting the mental health and wellness of registered nurses in the United States. Burnt Hills is hosting a walk on Sunday, May 1, that will support Roecker’s fundraising. The event, at the Burnt Hills track from 3-5 p.m., asks participants to walk a suggested distance of 2.62 miles and offer a suggested donation of $26.20. 

Roecker, a registered nurse and a family nurse practitioner student at The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, said Monday’s 126th Boston Marathon – her 12th personal marathon and third Boston Marathon – was a “whirlwind.” 

“I feel like that marathon went by the fastest of any marathon I’ve run. I don’t know. I was trying to soak it in and enjoy it.”

Roecker said people – many of them friends and family, but also plenty of strangers – shouted her name along the 26.2-mile course from Hopkinton to Copley Square. 

“A lot of people were like ‘go nurses,’” Roecker said. “A lot of people knew my name – they must have seen my story.” 

Andrew Waite can be reached at [email protected] and at 518-417-9338. Follow him on Twitter @UpstateWaite.

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