Dr. Fred Powell after the Boston Marathon with wife (back right) Latoya Powell and three daughters, Aj, Zoë and Zuri Powell.

MOULTRIE — “It’s like putting everyone in a sardine can,” said Dr. Frederick Powell. “That’s how you feel. But, it’s just part of it and honestly you don’t really think about it.”

On April 17, Moultrie resident Powell was one of 30,000 people who participated in the 127th annual Boston Marathon.

“It was the 10 year anniversary of the Boston Bombing,” said Powell. “That’s why I chose to run the race this year.”

During the 2013 Boston Marathon, three athletes lost their lives and hundreds were injured during a domestic terrorist attack where brothers placed two homemade bombs near the finish line that detonated 14 seconds and 210 yards apart from each other.

“I had never really run,” said Powell. “Before setting my mind and focusing around the Boston Marathon I couldn’t really run a mile, and had never gone more than two.”

A marathon is 26.2 miles.

Why such a specific distance? There is a reason for that.

In 490 BC the Battle of Marathon took place. It was the first Persian attempt to invade Greece and is known to historians as the initial blows in the Greco-Persian wars.

The Greeks won the battle and afterwards sent Pheidippides, a hemerodrome or day-runner, to Athens to relay the victory. He ran the entire 25 mile distance without stopping and shouted “νενικήκαμεν [we have won]” to the assembly immediately upon arrival.

Almost as immediately, Pheidippides collapsed from exhaustion and died

Thus was the birth of the marathon. The official distance was 25 miles until the 1908 Olympic games when Queen Alexandria wanted the race to end in front of Windsor Castle and extended the finish line that extra 1.2 miles.

Using Pheidippides as an indicator, running a marathon isn’t for the faint of heart and needs to be property trained for and taken seriously.

“Training was rough,” said Powell. “The temperature in Moultrie is more humid. and when you are supposed to go out and run 12 miles, but can only make it through two, it’s tough. Some days you feel really good, and other days are really bad. But, I spent a lot of time running on the trail and got a lot of support and advice. Michael Strickland (attorney in Moultrie) had run the Boston Marathon before and actually gave me a lot of great advice.”

The best tip Strickland gave Powell didn’t actually have to do with the race itself.

“He told me not to get nervous with the bus ride going out to the start,” said Powell. “It’s a long way out. The bus ride alone took about an hour, and if you aren’t from Boston and know your way around, it’s extra scary. You start to wonder if you made a good decision or not.”

It was time to start the race.

“I felt strong during the race,” said Powell. “I was pumped up and motivated. I just did it one step at a time. Had to keep moving and get it done.”

The Boston Marathon isn’t known for its flat course. In fact, it’s one of the more hilly marathons out there.

“There is a hill called Heartbreak Hill and I chose to walk up that one,” said Powell. “I had to make the decision pretty quickly. I had my mind made up that if I ran up that hill I was going to have to walk that next five miles. But, if I slowed down and walked at a brisk pace I knew I would be able to have a good pace for the rest of the marathon.”

After a grueling 5 hours, 37 minutes and 16 seconds Powell ran across the finish line.

“It was emotional,” said Powell when asked what it was to have that medal placed around his neck at the finish line. “When you train so hard for something and it all culminates at the end it’s a great feeling. It was a relief knowing all the people who supported me and I had told them I was running the race and that I did it and made it a reality.”

Not only did Powell’s family go to Boston with him, but Powell had a lot of support from Moultrie as well.

“It was great because Colquitt County Regional Medical Center really supported me,” said Powell. “They brought in over 2K alone through T-shirt sales.”

There are two ways to run in the Boston Marathon. One is to submit a qualifying marathon time through a prior sanctioned event and the other is by joining a charitable organization that is participating in the run. Powell took the later option and participated on Team Boston Medical Center, which is where he did his anesthesia residency. Powell explained there were roughly 80 people on the team, and to be on the team each individual had to raise a minimum of $7,000 for the organization. Boston Medical Center will use all their profits towards underserved programs at the hospital, such as the elimination of racial and ethnic disparities in mothers and their newborns.

“I had just so much support,” said Powell. “I had my contacts in Boston from when I did my residency, but I really want to thank everybody in the Moultrie area that supported me in this race. I appreciate everyone thinking of me and praying for me.”