By: Matthew Kane
In the final miles of the 2025 Boston Marathon, Kylee Raftis felt like her legs were going to fall off. As the pain of the Newton hills set in, the last 800 meters became an excruciating blur. However, Raftis held true to her goals.
The idea of being the first Canadian to cross the line on Boylston Street and setting a new personal record remained locked in her mind.
“In a marathon, people say 90% is mental. Even if you are in the best shape of your life, it really depends on your mental performance that day and how much you want it and how much you believe in yourself,” Raftis says.
On that day in particular, it was Raftis’ own belief coupled with her talent and extreme dedication to her sport that made the difference. These factors helped Raftis cross the line in 2 hours and 34 minutes, a four-minute personal record, making her not only the first Canadian woman to finish the race, but the 28th woman overall.
This accomplishment marks another notch in Raftis’ belt that has quickly been replaced with larger goals for the three-year marathon runner.
For most Boston marathoners, the crowd at Copley Square marks the culmination of months of preparation. For Rafti,s it is only the launch pad.
“This is just the beginning of my career. I still have ten to fifteen more years of this,” Raftis says.
This year’s Boston Marathon was unlike anything Raftis had experienced, this time running in Puma’s new Project 3 program.
Project 3 allows amatuer marathoners the chance to prepare for race day in the same way Puma’s elite runners do. Providing their athletes with access to coaches, nutritionists and Puma gear, the project aims to set runners up to break records.
Running with professionals for the first time, Raftis made sure to have fun with the race and enjoy the experience despite the goals she had prepared.
“I definitely felt like an underdog, and I had nothing to lose,” Raftis says, “A lot of these girls are former Olympians, and this is their job. They are literally pro runners, pro athletes and have contracts with shoe brands.”
This mindset not only ended in a personal record on race day, but Raftis also finished as the first Project 3 female athlete, earning incentive rewards and surprising herself in the process.
This race marks the third Boston Marathon and sixth marathon overall for Raftis. The 26-year-old’s marathon path started three years prior, following a five-year track and cross country career at Boston College.
Raftis explains how different a marathon is compared to anything she faced in her college career. Mainly a steeplechase runner with experience in the mile and 3000-meter events, Raftis did not always get the chance to show off her endurance abilities.
Raftis reflects on her collegiate experience and mentions how she never experienced a national championship race appearance, something that ultimately fueled her drive to find the event that suited her style.
“I always knew I had more in me. I just had to find the right event, and that is obviously the marathon for me now,” Raftis says.
Training for the marathon presented a new chapter in her running journey, allowing for a fresh start while posing new challenges.
Raftis’ training process is a careful balancing act that has become increasingly more difficult, juggling her strict regimen with a full-time job.
Logging over 40 hours a week at a new position that started this calendar year, Raftis had to adapt to an intense training schedule in order to allow her usual three-to-four-month marathon preparation leading up to Boston.
As a result, most of her workouts are carried out in the evenings, with more challenging sessions on the weekends.
“I just try to structure my days properly and also listen to my body,” Raftis says.
The structure she references takes many forms from supplements and food intake to achieve proper nutrition, to meditation in order to prepare her mental fitness.
Above all else, Raftis stresses, “Recovery…recovery is the number one at the top of my list because if I can not recover, I am not going to be able to train and push myself.”
While Raftis’ student-athlete background helped her with the transition, training on her own proved to be another adjustment, something Raftis would recognize this year especially, battling the conditions of a harsh winter in Toronto.
“Not having a team to fall back on was something I really missed during those challenging times,” Raftis says, “…Having such a supportive group of women to train with and see almost every single day at Boston College was always very encouraging. We always uplifted and motivated each other.”
To combat all of these roadblocks, Raftis stays focused on her goals that drive her passion for the sport. Ambitious goals are a major key to Raftis’ success, holding her accountable and allowing her to have something to strive toward.
“For me, it keeps me going, especially on those days where I lose motivation. It just reminds me that this is what I want so badly, and it kind of creates a fire under me,” Raftis says.
After a much deserved two week rest period, Raftis is right back to her training schedule with sights set on the Berlin Marathon in the fall.
Testing her skill set for the first time in Europe on the flat course of Germany’s capital is a challenge Raftis meets with great enthusiasm, with the goal of running a 2:30:00 firmly on her radar.
Over the course of her now thirteen-year running career, Raftis has entered an entirely new category of competition. With aspirations for the Olympic Games far in the future, Raftis is only focused on her next step, trusting her process and herself.
“After every marathon, as much as it hurts and it’s painful in the last couple of kilometers, I know I have more in me,” Raftis says, “So with more training, I think I can get to that next level… I just ultimately believe in myself.”
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