Olympian Lisa (Stublić) Nemec owns multiple national titles in distances from the 3,000m to the marathon. Nemec made her marathon debut by earning a national record at the 2010 Berlin Marathon. She then improved her time with a win at the 2011 Linz Marathon. In 2013, Nemec says she had a pivotal race at the New York City Half Marathon, where she finshed in a personal best of 1:09:18. She says, “I don’t really think anyone expected me to be a threat in the race.” Following the New York City Half Marathon, Nemec won the Zurich Marathon and improved her national record to 2:25:44. In the fall of 2013, she ran to a 12th-place finish at the New York City Marathon. Most recently Nemec finished fourth at the European Championships Marathon held in Zurich, and finished runner-up at the Honolulu Marathon to Joyce Chepkirui. Both women will be making their Boston Marathon debuts at this year’s race.

Nemec was born and raised in Connecticut, and began running her first year in high school. “I grew to love running and it has become a big part of me and I cannot imagine life without it,” says Nemec. After high school, she attended Columbia University to study music theory and to also compete on the track. After graduating, Nemec moved to Croatia, her father’s homeland, and soon became one of the country’s top athletes. She was the first Croatian marathon runner to ever qualify for the Olympics. Nemec trains in Albufeira, Portugal, and Zagreb Croatia, with her coach Slavko Petrovic, the Croatian 10,000m national record holder. Before she began training full time, Nemec worked as an English teacher in a private school in Zagreb. She taught preschool through third grade and seventh grade. Nemec is married to Dario Nemec, and she enjoys reading, learning languages, and playing the violin and flute.

“I am very excited and motivated to run Boston this year. It is a race with such a long tradition that I cannot wait to be a part of the excitement, emotion, and strength. The competition is always fierce and I look forward to being competitive.”