NATICK, Mass. - A moment of pure joy when the family of Melissa Stockwell spotted her on the marathon course.

The Paralympian stopped quickly to greet her husband Brian and some of her biggest fans.

“For her to have that big smile, it just kind of makes all the training and everything worth it, you know,” said Stockwell’s husband Brian Tolsma. “Because it is a team effort, and the stress washes away. Race day is here, so it’s great.” 

Stockwell served in the Army and in 2004 became the first female American soldier to lose a limb in combat.

Monday was her first Boston Marathon and her family came from Colorado Springs to cheer her on.  

“Just for that moment, it’s totally worth it,” Tolsma said. “The kids just lose it. As a father, I couldn’t be more proud of their excitement for her.”

This was the first Boston Marathon since 2019 to take place on Patriots Day. For some, it’s their first Boston Marathon. Many people had teams of supporters rooting them on.

“Scott Schubert is his name,” said Scott’s wife, Amy. “It’s a bucket list item. He qualified to run it on his 60th birthday a year ago, and he’s absolutely thrilled to be here.”

Scott was one of those people who had quite the cheering section on Monday afternoon. His family was decked out with signs and custom t-shirts. Their theme was one of his favorite movies, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

“Kind of keeping his spirits up as he’s running through this race,” Beck Schubert, one of Scott’s children, said.

“Really excited for him to do it in his 60s,” said Scott’s daughter, Abbey. “It’s really cool for the inspiration for like being active later in life.”

Spectators could find inspiration all along the 26.2 mile route, and this year the runners creating it had plenty of friendly faces supporting them.

“We’ve been fired up the whole way, just with all the people out cheering,” Amy said. “It’s really inspiring.”

“It’s overwhelming and again, with her smiling, we know she’s in a good place,” Tolsma said. “So, that’s great.”