WWE’s Megan Morant circles back to Boston for another shot at the Marathon
Megan Morant knows a thing or two about covering great distances in a short amount of time.
Her career has taken her from her hometown of Chicago and Northwestern University to Connecticut, New York, Foxborough — where under her given name, Megan O’Brien, she worked as a reporter and host for Patriots.com — to Orlando, Fla., where for the past two years she has lived while working as the backstage reporter for WWE’s “SmackDown!”
“SmackDown!,” which airs on Friday nights on Fox and is one of WWE’s flagship programs, originates from different locales across the country, having been broadcast from more than 160 different arenas since its debut in August 1999.
“At age 28, I’ve been to 45 states,” said Morant, “and a lot of those places I would have never gone to if it wasn’t for WWE.”
Morant will be back in a familiar place Monday. The former Northwestern track and cross-country athlete will be running her 11th marathon and fifth Boston, and she’ll take the course with an impressive goal in mind.
“My goal for the longest time was to break three hours in the marathon,” she said. “I finally did it this past December at the California International Marathon. I’ve never broken three at Boston and I’ve actually never had a good race at Boston. So I’m looking to finally not go out too fast and finally have a good Boston race.
“And of course, it always means so much to be part of Patriots Day in Boston. The camaraderie is amazing, and the course is so unique. I’ve been running since I was 8 years old, and if you’re a runner, you dream about the Boston Marathon. And if you’re a runner and you’re not in Boston, you feel like you’re missing out on that day.”
Given her work schedule —she essentially travels 52 weeks a year for “SmackDown!” — her discipline when it comes to her running routine is remarkable.
“My motto when I’m on the road is ‘something is better than nothing,’ ” she said. “So there will be days when I anticipate running 8 miles and then my flight will get delayed or I’ll get canceled somewhere and I don’t end up getting in until midnight.
“So I’m like, ‘OK, Megan, just, just go run 3 miles, don’t worry about the 8 that you were supposed to do. Just get 3, because running 3 is better than running none.’
“So I really have to be kind to myself on the road because that kind of stuff happens a lot.”
Distance running might seem a purely solitary experience, especially for someone who is constantly traveling, but Morant says one of the joys of it is the communal aspect.
“I’ve realized I can live anywhere if there’s a running community,” she said. “I was probably a year into living in Orlando and I remember just feeling so sorry for myself, like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t have friends here,’ and I’m like, ‘No, you get your [butt] out the door and you go make friends.’
“No one really tells you this. But like when you’re an adult, it’s tough to make friends. I mean, it’s really tough, especially now with so many people working from home.
“How do you really meet friends in a new place? Well, you think back to when you were a kid. And how did you make friends then? You did basketball or you did cross-country or you did baseball or whatever it was.
“And as an adult, I thought, how do you meet people? So I joined this running group in Orlando. And at first I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I want to do this.’ And finally I went the first time and I was like, ‘Wow, this is way better than just going out to run 10 miles by myself.’
“I have people to do it with, different people from a different background that I could talk to about really anything. And then I showed up again and now we have a whole group chat and we do a Christmas party together. I’m so grateful for that.”
Morant spent four seasons working for the Patriots before landing the WWE role in April 2021. She had her running community in Boston, too. When she first arrived here, she lived with Molly Seidel, the sister of Northwestern teammate Isabel Seidel. Molly Seidel would go on to win a bronze medal in the marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“I remember one time doing a 3-mile warmup with Molly,” said Morant, “and I was like, that’s it, that’s my workout for the day.”
Morant left the Patriots two years ago for the WWE gig, feeling as if she’d hit her ceiling in Foxborough. She did not grow up a WWE fan but felt an immediate connection when she auditioned. Even though her job requires portraying a journalist rather than actually being one, there are some parallels, she says, including the necessity of connecting with an audience and understanding how to tell a story.
“I had to work on how to do it right,” said Morant, “I started taking improv classes. I’ve worked with an acting coach and I still have a long way to go. There’s people who have been in acting classes their whole lives and I’m just kind of starting this journey.
“But if I ever wanted to transition out of here and go back to hosting sports shows, I do think my time in WWE has enhanced my ability of being on camera.”
The change in jobs also required a change in surnames, per WWE’s request. O’Brien is her family name. Connolly is her married name (she had just gotten engaged when she got the job). As for Morant …
“That came about when I found out I got the job,” she said “My boss said, ‘Hey, I need some potential names,’ and I was watching the NBA All-Star Game with my husband, and I just started saying, ‘Megan Tatum, Megan James …’ and Ja Morant came on our screen. We’re like, ‘Megan Morant.’ That sounds good.
“And I also threw in Megan Thomas because Frank Thomas is my favorite baseball player of all time. But Megan Morant was the one that we ran with.”
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