BOSTON -- Jesuit Father John Predmore likes to run because "you have to look into people's eyes."

"There's no competitors," he said. "There's only really companions on the journey. And so, when we're running, we're running really as a team."

When he runs, he can't listen to music or focus on anything but his own thoughts. He doesn't measure his progress in numbers. All he wants to do is go a little bit further than he did last time.

Since 2022, Father Predmore, Boston College High School's chaplain for Ignatian Ministries, has run in the Boston Marathon to raise money for the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and has raised over $75,000 so far.

His training for this year's marathon on April 21 is more intense than anything he has done before. He regularly walks about 10 miles a day, parking his car as far as possible from the store, walking from Boston College High School, where he works, in Dorchester to Boston College in Chestnut Hill, or walking the six miles home after taking the T into the city for an event.

It's not easy on his feet.

"Life is about dealing with suffering as well as you can," Father Predmore, 63, said in an April 4 interview at the SoWa art complex in Boston's South End, where he paints in a shared studio. It was SoWa's monthly open house, and Father Predmore wore an apron splotched with paint and a popped-open Roman collar.

He said painting is as healing for his soul as running is.

"Both settle your mind down," he said. "It zeroes you, and it provides balance."

During the interview, SoWa artist in residence Theresa Levin dropped in to greet Father Predmore.

"Just want to say hello to the athlete," she said. "How's the training going?"

"I'm doing what I can," Father Predmore replied, adding that his days "have been just so full."

He juggles his ministry, art, and training by taking things "one day at a time," he said.

Every day back in 2022, he would hear news reports about "Mass and Cass," the colloquial name for the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard in Boston. The many social services there, including Boston Health Care for the Homeless, contributed to the area becoming a notorious focal point for New England's housing and addiction crises.

"I kept hearing that we needed a compassionate way of approaching this situation," Father Predmore said. "What I was reading in the papers was not filled with compassion. People were offering solutions, but in the meantime, the plight of their situation just became visible."

He said he prayed daily for the people of Mass and Cass.

"At some point, you have to say, you can't just pray. You have to act," he said.

Father Predmore had recently celebrated the funeral Mass of WCVB Chronicle co-anchor Mary Richardson, a strong supporter of BHCHP. He donated to the organization in her honor.

"And then I saw, here's an opportunity to do something concrete," he said. "I could run, raise money, and make a donation for Mary, and help them out."

He has visited BHCHP headquarters and spoken with people experiencing homelessness.

"The important thing is that they're regular people," he said, "some of whom have just had it very hard in life, and everyone can find themselves in a precarious situation."

Despite not running since high school, he decided to enter the Boston Marathon. He talked to BC High's track coaches, and someone at the school who had run the marathon.

"I said, 'You know, can I do this?'" He recalled. "'It's crazy, I'm not a runner, but can I do this?'"

Everyone encouraged him to "give it a shot."

He began training knowing that he wouldn't break any records, but that didn't matter to him. He would walk, run, play basketball, and count his steps every day and see how far he could push himself. At last, Patriots' Day 2022 came and time to run his first Boston Marathon.

"Oh my gosh, it was amazing, because it's Boston's big parade," Father Predmore said. "And what is really intriguing about it is so many people are there to support you. All along the way, people are just saying, 'You've got this.'"

It was Easter Monday and he wore a name tag identifying himself as "Father John" to be "able to connect with people and give them blessings," he said.

When he was out on the course, he said he was exhausted and thinking, "Why did I do this?" But he kept going because didn't want to let down the people who supported him.

He said the hardest part of his first marathon was not Heartbreak Hill but when he finally saw the Citgo sign in Kenmore Square. After several miles of walking toward it, it didn't appear any larger.

"It just seemed like it was the longest distance away," he said.

Of course, the sign eventually got bigger. When he finally crossed the finish line around 6 p.m., there were still people there to cheer him on. He felt like he could run the whole thing a second time.

"It's just elation," he said.

During his second Boston Marathon in 2023, around mile 10, he met a man who wanted to walk with him because he needed someone to talk with. His name was Michael Levin, an Orthodox Jew who spoke at length about his faith. At mile 12, Levin learned that Father Predmore was a priest, "and that brought up a lot of faith questions." By mile 17, Father Predmore was no longer thinking about beating his previous years' time, and understood his ministry was just to walk with Levin.

Levin later wrote about the experience for The Boston Globe, and the two reunited at the 2024 marathon.

"I think in the Catholic Church, this is what synodality is all about," Father Predmore said. "That it doesn't matter who you are. You are a person of dignity and worth, worth finding a companion on the journey."

After a few years of running, he is familiar with the route and the places where he can rest along the way.

"You know when you're going to feel supported and when you're going to feel alone," he said.

He has fond memories of "touchstone points," such as seeing Spencer, the golden retriever whose presence was an annual treat for runners until he passed away in 2023. Father Predmore now looks forward to seeing the statue of Spencer that has been erected in Ashland.

"There are certain moments that keep you going along the way," he said.

He thinks this year may be his final Boston Marathon, "but we'll see."

"Soon as you get over the finish line, that lets you know if you're going to do it or not again," he said.

He is considering running in the New York Marathon in November and the Cape Cod Half Marathon in September.

"It's fun to do, and to know that I'm doing it for a good cause," he said. "There's so much suffering in the world, and we have to, when we see suffering, engage in it and really touch the wounds of people, and when we do that, their suffering is lessened a bit."