Caitie Meyer

A Passion for Running and Healing

By Linda Waxman Finkle

Age: 31
Family: Jack Nolan, fiancé; Gregg Meyer and Bonnie Blanchfield, parents; Ian Meyer, brother
Residence: Albany, moving to Boston soon
Hometown: Weston, Mass.
Profession: Resident Physician-Internal Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, Mass.
Volunteer: Koinonia Primary Care, and Project Safe Point, both in Albany
Other Sports: Cross-Country Skiing, Downhill Skiing, Cycling, Hiking

Caitie Meyer’s love of running began as a youngster, while participating in her family’s yearly tradition of completing the Troy Turkey Trot. With parents who prioritized exercise (her mom was pregnant with her while training for a marathon) and a brother who provided healthy competition, it was almost inevitable. She played soccer in junior and senior high school, but decided to try cross-country running her senior year after being sidelined with an injury. “The team had a great coach, and I thought that I could be good. I saw myself improving quickly, and that I got out what I put in,” she recalls. While still in high school, she also began running what would become her favorite race, the Boston Marathon – the first time when she was just 17, as a fundraiser for scholarships for her school, and the second as part of a charity team for Massachusetts General Hospital.

At Dartmouth College, she competed with the school team through sophomore year, but stopped when it interfered with her studies and didn’t offer a positive environment. She continued to run on her own, completing the Vermont City Marathon, the San Francisco Marathon, and the California International Marathon. Breaking three hours was one of her goals, and she achieved it the first time at the Nottingham Christmas Marathon in England, where she had moved to pursue a master’s degree in Health Policy, a year before medical school. She then also ran the London Marathon in 2:55. 

During those years, the Boston Marathon was still in Caitie’s sights, and she once again ran it for an organization that was important to her, Boston Health Care for the Homeless, which provides services to over 10,000 individuals every year. As of today, she has completed it 12 times, with a PR of 2:53 in 2019. 

She has also just realized another one of her dreams – becoming a physician, like her father, graduating Albany Medical College, and preparing to move to Boston to begin a three-year residency in internal medicine, possibly followed by an additional year focused on geriatrics. “I love the social complexity of helping older adults access both the medical and social care that they need. As individuals get older, our society doesn’t take care of them as it should,” she says. “I’ve always been close with my grandparents and think about how their care can be improved.”

While in medical school, she regularly volunteered in the Koinonia Primary Care in Arbor Hill, which provides primary care and mental health care in Albany’s poorest neighborhood. She was also involved with Project Safe Point, whose areas of focus include needle exchange, overdose prevention, and HIV screening. Not surprisingly, two of her heroes are Dr. Jim O’Connell, President of Boston Health Care for the Homeless, and Dr. Andrew Coates, a hospice and palliative medicine specialist at Albany Med, and she cites both for their selflessness and inspiring work. 

Another hero is her father, Dr. Gregg Meyer, who has served as a role model and motivator, by exercising daily while encouraging Caitie to push herself to set a goal and work on it consistently. That started when she was 10 years old, as the family was preparing to move from Washington, DC to Massachusetts. Back then, her hero was Mia Hamm, and she longed to join the soccer team at her new school. Her dad suggested that she run two miles every day to get in good shape. And, while she admits that she cried initially, she also acknowledges that her dedication clearly paid off. 

A few weeks ago, she was the top local Boston Marathon female finisher at 2:54:01, her 10th Boston Marathon in a row. In 2022, she had the fastest female time in the CDPHP Workforce Team Challenge in more than 10 years which was 20:16, was eighth overall at the Freihofer’s Run for Women 5K at 17:27, and third female overall in the Troy Turkey Trot 10K in 36:06.

Over the last few years, Caitie has run with the Willow Street Athletic Club team, as well as the running club at Albany Med, and has enjoyed the collegiality of these communities. And, although the marathon is her favorite distance to prepare for because of the structured training over a long period of time, she also enjoys the half-marathon, and appreciates the joy of an all-women’s race like the Freihofer’s 5K. Her running heroes include those individuals who have attained running greatness while also holding down a regular job, such as Sarah Sellers, the nurse anesthetist, who trained before and after her shifts, and took second place in the 2018 Boston Marathon.

In addition to working as a primary care physician, Caitie also hopes to work on health care policy, focusing on improving systems within healthcare, removing barriers, and reaching populations that are underserved. “People’s ability to achieve good health is often not just based on medicine,” she says. Over the next month, though, before she starts her residency in June, she will take some much-needed time to relax, including a trip to Portugal with her fiancé, where they plan to enjoy cycling. 

When she moves to Boston, in addition to missing some of our great ice cream shops, like Kurver Kreme and Jim’s Tastee-Freez, Caitie mentions her favorite place to run, the Albany County Helderberg-Hudson Rail Trail. But, there’s a very good chance that we will see her back here many times, not only to visit her mom’s family, and to see her many friends and colleagues, but also to try to beat her time in the Freihofer’s 5K, one of her current running goals. 

As she has been inspired by her own heroes, Caitie Meyer’s commitment to running and to improving the health care of those less fortunate inspires all of us. We wish you only the best, Caitie, and look forward to hearing about all of your future accomplishments! 

Linda Waxman Finkle (lwf518@gmail.com) is a writer and kayaking instructor in Albany. She also enjoys skiing, pickleball, Zumba, and reading, and has just completed her first musical comedy about divorce.