Wareham Middle School gym teacher Nichole Wade did not become a marathon runner overnight.

Instead, she followed the same mantra she teaches her students: Focus on small goals, one after the other.

“You have to set the foundation and work it into chunks to make it work for you,” she said.

Wade has run in four of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors, a competition involving six of the most famous marathons in the world. Wade has run in the Boston, Chicago, Berlin and New York Marathons, and will run in the London Marathon on April 23.

After that, she will only need to run in the Tokyo Marathon to receive a Six Stars medal.

Wade got her start running on the Wareham High School track team. When her father died in 2012, she started signing up for 5k charity runs in his honor.

Wade called the runs “a way to deal with grief.”

After a year of 5ks, Wade began to push herself to go greater distances. Eventually, she made it through the 13.1-mile Falmouth Road Race half marathon, and later on, a full marathon.

“I had done the Disney [World] Marathon just for fun,” she said. “To see if I could finish.”

Wade found that running marathons combined her twin goals of running long distances and travelling the world. In 2018, she entered the lottery for the Chicago Marathon, her first Abbott World Marathon.

She ran the Boston Marathon in 2019 and raised $10,000 for Fisher House, a nonprofit dedicated to housing veterans and their families.

Fisher House helped Wade’s parents after her father’s stay in the hospital. 

“I had my dad’s dog tags on me when I ran,” she said. “It felt so special I cried.” 

Despite a brief halt in her journey due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Wade completed the New York and Berlin Marathons last year. 

“It was pretty crazy last fall,” she said. “A lot of running.”

In London, Wade will be running in support of Kids, a charity that provides opportunities for disabled children. 

“Running for children with disabilities is close to my heart because I see the inequity in my job,” she said. “It’s really hard for students who don’t have access to the right wheelchair or the right equipment to help them carry on with their day like other students.”

Wade’s goal is to raise $2,000.

To donate to Kids in support of Wade, visit 2023tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/nichole-wade.