By Barbara Huebner
The rising star to follow in her mother’s footsteps in Saturday’s elite field.
Thanks to her coach, Elly Henes will have her eye on a Top 3 finish when she toes the line on Beacon Street at 9:00 AM this Saturday, along with 7,500 other runners, in the Boston 10K for Women.
And not just because her coach is a good one. Her coach, Laurie Henes, is also her mom, who finished fourth in this race twice.
“Now I have to beat her,” said the 27-year-old when she learned of her mother’s 1993 and 1997 results. “That’s all the motivation I needed.”
Maybe not quite all the motivation. Read on.
First, among the athletes challenging Henes, the 2021 NCAA 5000-meter Champion out of NC State—where she was coached by her mom—will be Rachael Rudel, a 32-year-old from Colorado who is having a breakout year, earning the crown of USATF 20 km Champion last month after finishing second in the B.A.A. 10K in June,
Henes will also have to fend off at least five top athletes with Boston ties—Jackie Gaughan, who works in finance in Boston and finished sixth last month in that 20K; Jessie Cardin, who went to high school in Sutton, MA, and finished fourth here in 2024; and Megan Sailor (third in the 2025 California International Marathon in 2:25:17), Maggie Donahue (a Wellesley native who placed 10th in the 2024 NCAA Championships at 10,000 meters), and Rosina Machu (a five-time All-American out of Gonzaga University), all three of whom compete for the Boston Athletic Association.
And then there’s this: Henes has been battling a strained adductor and hasn’t raced since March. That setback follows two surgeries, one in 2023 and another in 2025, for a lung issue that caused a partial collapse.
“The first time I just tried to keep thinking it was a freak accident, it happened but I’ll just move forward and pretend it didn’t happen to me,” she said. “And then the second time was a lot harder, physically because of the nerve damage that came after and mentally because there was the feeling that this could happen again. That came with a bit more of a mental struggle to get back into it, so it took a little bit longer to get my footing running again.”
The timing of the Boston 10K for Women “lined up perfectly” as her first race back, especially since she’s fallen in with the Wolfpack cross country team’s routine after recently moving back to Raleigh, NC, from Flagstaff, AZ. “My mom had so many good things to say about it. [As my coach,] she was immediately like, yeah, we should focus on that one as the opener. … I fought tooth and nail to be on that start line. And it being a women’s event, that’s really empowering to me.”
It will be a special event for many reasons. Among the activities and celebrations planned for the 50th running, open to all:
- The presentation of bib numbers to runners who are set to compete for the 50th time. Seven women who ran that first race in 1977 have never missed a year. Thursday, 3:30 PM, Brooks Boston Store, 400 Newbury Street;
- A webinar series on Perimenopause and the Female Runner: What No One Told Us, that goes live here at 6:00 PM Thursday;
- A Meet and Greet (4:00 PM) and Shakeout Run (approximately 5:00 PM) with elite athletes Friday at Brooks Boston Store, 400 Newbury Street; and
- A three-part podcast, Finish Stronger, which tells the story of the race and the women who fought for their place in the sport, that can be accessed here.
And on race day:
A morning of fitness classes, product sampling and shopping on Boston Common, from 7:00 AM – noon, including a DJ and live musical performances;- Kids’ races at 10:30 AM;
- An awards ceremony at 10:15 for the elite field, age groups and teams both corporate and family—mother-daughter, grandmother-mother-daughter, and sister-sister among them; and, finally,
- A commemoration of the event’s 50th running and its legacy athletes, at 10:30 AM.
“I’m sorry to miss the race,” said Laurie Henes, now one of the most successful NCAA cross country coaches in the country, having led NC State to four national titles in the past five years. “But I’m glad Elly will be running. This was always one of my favorite races, and I wish I had been able to run it more. I remember the women cheering on the elites [along the out-and-back] and just the incredible atmosphere surrounding the whole event. It’s really cool that my daughter will get to experience that as well.”
Her daughter agrees. “Even just thinking about that is a motivating factor, seeing so many women out there running hard and giving their all. I’m excited to see that.”
