Chara finishes 2nd Boston Marathon, beats previous time by 8 minutes

Zdeno Chara just doesn't stop running.

The 6-foot-9 former Boston Bruins captain finished the 2024 Boston Marathon on Monday in 3:30:52. To spare you the math, that’s an average of 8:03 per mile.

Last year, he ran the 26.2-mile race in 3:38:23.

Monday’s race was Chara’s seventh marathon – all in the last 12 months – including the two Boston Marathons and the New York City Marathon. He’s planning to run his eighth marathon next week in London.

That’s right, the 47-year-old former NHL defenseman is going to run two marathons in just under one week. In two different continents, for what it’s worth.

For the second year in a row, Chara ran the Boston Marathon for The Hoyt Foundation in honor of Dick and Rick Hoyt.

At Monday’s morning skate, current Bruins captain Brad Marchand commented on his former teammate’s impressive feat.

“Not really surprised. You knew [Chara] was going to find something really competitive, very hard,” Marchand said. “Something that takes a lot of training, something he can improve upon. He’s just a beast. He likes the challenge.

“It’s great for him,” Marchand added. “I’m happy to see him happy and enjoying something after hockey. He dedicated so much time and effort to the game, it’s great that he has another passion that he’s enjoying.”

In addition to those seven (soon to be eight) marathons, Chara has also completed a half Ironman (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run) and a 50-kilometer trail race (31.06 miles) among other road races.

Oh by the way, he’s only been retired from the NHL for about a year and a half.

At this rate, sky’s the limit for Big Zee.

– NHL.com independent correspondent Harvey Valentine contributed to this report