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Editor’s Note: For this week, we sat down with Sgt. Stephen Rappa and Lt. Anthony LoPresti – two commanding officers who are among the five members of the Saugus Police Department who are registered to run in the 127th Boston Marathon, which is set Monday (April 17), Patriots’ Day, April 17. These are the last in a series of interviews with each of the Saugus Police marathon runners that will be published in The Saugus Advocate, leading up to Patriots’ Day weekend. We will highlight each runner’s marathon running background, how they prepare for the grueling 26.2 mile course that will draw a field of 30,000 runners from all over the world, their motivation to run a marathon and the charity they are running for.
Sgt. Rappa, 37, is a 2004 graduate of St. John’s Prep High School in Danvers, where he played hockey. He grew up in Saugus, where he has lived all of his life. He enlisted in 2008 as a United States Navy Seabee, and he was discharged as a Petty Officer Second Class. Rappa received his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Southern New Hampshire University in 2015. He graduated with a 3.7 Grade Point Average with a focus on Terrorism and Homeland Security. He received his master’s in Criminal Justice in 2016 from Southern New Hampshire University. He is married to Elizabeth Rappa, and they have two children, Christopher and Alexandria. An 11-year veteran of the Saugus Police Department, he is a patrol supervisor for the day shift division. Sgt. Rappa will be running in his first Boston Marathon and first marathon race.
Lt. LoPresti, 53, grew up in Lynn and studied at Lynn English High School before enlisting in the U.S. Marines when he was 17 years old. He served for four years (1987-91), and was discharged honorably as a corporal. He is a Persian Gulf War Veteran, having served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He has received numerous military commendations and medals, including the Good Conduct Medal. LoPresti received his bachelor of science degree in Law Enforcement from Western New England College. He began as a transit police officer with the MBTA Police in 1996 and transferred to the Saugus Police Department in 2000. He has 27 years combined service in law enforcement and is in his 14th year as a Saugus Police lieutenant. He worked previously for nine years with the K-9 Unit. He has been a Saugus representative on the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council for 10 years.
He moved to Saugus around 1998, where he raised his family. He and his wife Caroline LoPresti, have been married for 30 years. They have three grown-up children: two daughters – Hannah LoPresti and Isabella LoPresti, who are both nurses – and a son, Anthony J. LoPresti, Jr., who received an engineering degree from the University of New Hampshire and works in construction management with PMA Consultants. Lt. LoPresti, a veteran member of the Saugus Annual Town Meeting representing Precinct 8, will be running in his second Boston Marathon – four years after his first one (2019).
Highlights of this week’s interviews follow.
Interview with Sgt. Stephen Rappa
Q: How did you get involved in Marathon running?
A: It was just something I wanted to try.
Q: And why Boston?
A: I always wanted to run the Boston Marathon; it was always a bucket list item for me.
Q: When did you start running?
A: I started running about 15 years ago when I went into the military.
Q: How long have you been running? Why do you run? What do you get out of it?
A: I’ve been running on and off for a while. I run because it’s great cardiovascular exercise and it really helps me relieve stress.
Q: How many Boston Marathons have you run in?
A: This will be my first.
Q: What’s it like at the start of the race? Or, what do you think it will be like?
A: I have no idea, but I’ll certainly report back when it’s done. I’m sure my adrenalin will be pumping, and I’m excited to experience it.
Q: Do you have friends or running buddies you’ll be running with in this year’s marathon?
A: Yes. There are four other Saugus Police Officers running it, along with a couple of my friends from outside of the department.
Q: How many miles do you do in an average year?
A: I actually have no idea. Before this I was doing three to four miles, two or three times a week. It’s gone up because of the marathon training, but I don’t really know what the average would be for an entire year.
Q: Do you do other marathon races besides Boston? Or, is this your first marathon? And will you run in others this year?
A: This is my first and last for the year.
Q: How do you prepare mentally and physically for this event?
A: I’ve been working out three to four days a week: running and training at Fenix BJJ as much as I can to help prepare for this – all different types of exercise, but all beneficial in their own way.
Q: Any special meal regimen you do before the race? Like carbo loading?
A: I’ll probably have some pasta and chicken the night before.
Q: How many pairs of shoes do you go through during the course of a year?
A: I’ve only gone through two pairs of sneakers for this marathon training.
Q: Do you have any personal connection to the Boston Marathon bombings? Like, lost a friend or relative?
A: Sean Collier was several academy classes ahead of me at the MBTA Police Academy. He graduated in the 25th MPOC and I graduated in the 30th.
Q: What cause will you be running for this year? If you are running for a charity.
A: I’m running for the Sean A. Collier Memorial Foundation. He was the MIT Police Officer killed in the line of duty a couple days after the Boston Marathon bombing. All the money that goes to this charity helps to establish community policing type programs within the state along with scholarships under Sean’s name. It’s truly a humbling experience to be running for Sean on the 10th anniversary of his death.
Q: What’s your fondest Boston Marathon memory? That would be as an observer.
A: I’ve never actually been to a Boston Marathon, even as a spectator.
Q: How long will you keep running this race?
A: Right now I’m not too sure – I just want to get through this one.
Q: After running a Boston Marathon, what will you do the next day?
A: Ice my feet and relax.
Q: Have any friends or family members run this race before?
A: Yes – Tony LoPresti, Alison Cooper and Stacy Forni have all run it. They’ve been a big help in giving me some tips about race day and how they’ve trained in the past.
Q: Anything else that you would like to share about this experience?
A: Thanks to my wife and kids for allowing me to train as much as I do. Even though it’s one person running, it’s certainly a team sport in my house.
Interview with Lt. Anthony LoPresti
Q: How did you get involved in Marathon running?
A: I’ve worked security in the Newton portion of the race route with NEMLEC [Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council] during the five years before I decided to run my first one [2019]. And watching it really made me want to do it.
Q: And why Boston?
A: Always wanted to run it. I always said if I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it before I’m 50. Well, that’s when I did it. It was my first time at 49.
Q: When did you start running?
A: I started running when I was in the Marine Corps because we had to. I’ve kept it up throughout the years, just not to the same extent. But it really kicked into high gear last year.
Q: How long have you been running? Why do you run? What do you get out of it?
A: I’ve been running for more than 30 years or so, mostly small runs to stay in shape.
Q: Talk about the sense of accomplishment you get from this exhausting and physically challenging activity. Not everybody gets out and runs a Boston Marathon.
A: They call this the hardest marathon around. When you get on Boylston Street, you feel very accomplished and very excited – you feel all different emotions. As Tedy says, it’s ‘the Super Bowl of Marathons – when you come to the finish line, it’s the same thing as if you won the Super Bowl.’ It’s a great feeling.
Q: What’s it like at the start of the race? Or, what do you think it will be like?
A: I think it will be nervous excitement and a little bit of stress and worry – to complete the marathon and do the best you can possibly do.
Q: Do you have friends or running buddies you’ll be running with in this year’s marathon?
A: There’s about 50 of them. And I will be running with another runner from Saugus, Christine DiGirolamo.
Q: How many miles do you do in an average year?
A: Not sure. Run a couple of runs a week, three to five miles. When not training for a marathon, maybe 400 miles.
Q: Do you do other marathon races besides Boston? And will you run in others this year?
A: This will be my second marathon and my second Boston Marathon.
Q: How do you prepare mentally and physically for this event?
A: Just do what the training dictates and try to keep a positive attitude. On Saturdays, we’ve been doing some runs on the main [Boston Marathon] course. I have been doing some running on the trails at Breakheart.
Q: Any special meal regimen you do before the race? Like carbo loading?
A: Just pasta – you load up on pasta and get a lot of electrolytes in you.
Q: How many pairs of shoes do you go through during the course of a year?
A: A couple. I’ll buy a new pair this week, making it three pairs this year.
Q: Do you have any personal connection to the Boston Marathon bombings? Like, lost a friend or relative?
A: No.
Q: What cause will you be running for this year? If you are running for a charity.
A: I’ll be running for Tedy Bruschi’s charity team, “Tedy’s Team.” Its mission is to improve the quality of life for stroke survivors and to also help with their recovery. They also advance the communities’ knowledge of the warning signs of stroke as well as heart disease.
Q: What’s your fondest Boston Marathon memory? That would be as an observer.
A: My fondest memory was watching my daughter, Hannah LoPresti, and my work colleague, Detective Stacy Forni, complete the 2018 Boston Marathon in such harsh conditions, which motivated me to apply this year.
Q: How long will you keep running this race?
A: Not sure. It could be my last.
Q: After running a Boston Marathon, what will you do the next day?
A: Relax and decompress and reflect back on all of the hard training and cold runs throughout the winter.
Q: Have any friends or family members run this race before?
A: My daughter, Hannah LoPresti, a few years ago [2018]. And this year, there’s five of us from the Police Department running. I’m the old man of the crew, trying to keep up with the youngsters.
Q: I see you are holding a framed photo of a woman along with a logo for Tedy’s Team. Who is that?
A: That’s my daughter, Isabella. She’s 23. She’s a nurse. In 2021, she woke up and the side of her face was drooping. She had a hole in her heart. But she’s totally healed now and she’s back to normal. And that’s why I’m running the race to raise money for Tedy’s Team. The money goes to help victims of strokes and for awareness and heart disease
Q: Anything else that you would like to share about this experience?
A: Everybody has a cause why they run. And you can’t have a greater cause than running for your family. When it gets tough out there on the course, that’s what you lean on and that’s what gets you through it. Just coming down Boylston Street and seeing the crowds and seeing your family – and feeling the sense of accomplishment and excitement – I think that’s everybody’s marathon moment.
