Melissa Montoya qualified for the Boston Marathon at the Mt. Charleston Marathon, running 26.2 miles in 4 hours, 6 minutes. (Photo courtesy of Melissa Montoya)

Melissa Montoya is on her way to the Boston Marathon after life dealt her a bad hand.

On April 6, 2017, a storm ripped through Benicia. The 60 mile per hour winds tore an 85-foot pine tree from the ground. That tree crashed into Montoya’s home on Lindo Street, burying Montoya and her fiancé, Danny, under approximately 13 tons of tree and rubble as they were watching a San Francisco Giants game. Neighbors began rescue efforts and were soon joined by the Benicia Police and Fire departments and emergency services, who initiated rescue efforts.

Montoya and Danny crawled their way out of the rubble. Danny escaped without being impaled by rafters. Montoya suffered significant back trauma and had to undergo foot surgery. She spent a week in John Muir Trauma Center and two months in a walker.

Through the help of community members, family and her fiancé, Montoya began her journey to recovery. Because of her injuries, Montoya could not stay at her fiancé’s multistory house. Benicia Bay Inn allowed her to remain at their lodging as Estey Real Estate and Property Management found temporary housing.  Benicia Bay Physical Therapy and Training Loft 714 helped Montoya with her physical recovery while family members gave emotional support.

“I would not or could not let a sucker punch define me,” she said.” I felt like those trees were the biggest sucker punch. We all go through that in life. Unexpected things happen, they don’t define us. What we do with them, we define them.”

Montoya decided she would do something big.

Running in the Boston Marathon– or “the Super Bowl of marathons” as she describes it– has been a dream of Montoya. She started running seven years ago when her friend was diagnosed with leukemia. It got her off the couch to run in a fundraiser marathon for leukemia research. Unfortunately, before the race, Montoya’s friend passed away. Montoya still runs in the charitable fundraiser as a way to honor her friend’s memory.

On April 28, Montoya qualified to run the Boston Marathon. She ran the Mt. Charleston Marathon near Las Vegas. Montoya completed 26.2 miles in four hours, six minutes. She lost two toenails but achieved a personal best beating her previous time by marathon by 17 minutes. Montoya ran for several honorees; her mother, recuperating from heart surgery, sister, Liz, who is battling cancer, and neighbor Jay who passed away in February this year.

“I hope this story brings inspiration to others who might be struggling never to give up and never say you can’t,” she said. “With a vision, hard work and good support, there is so much we can do.”

Montoya will be competing against several runners throughout the world in the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2019.

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