Art of persuasion made Saugus’ Palladino a marathoner

The art of persuasion can be a strong motivator. In the case of Thomas Palladino Jr., it made him a marathoner.Palladino, a 27-year-old Saugus native who now lives in Melrose, will run in his first Boston Marathon on Monday. His girlfriend, Merrill Stead, a veteran of 11 marathons, persuaded him to do so.”It was interesting,” Palladino said. “When we first met, that was what we did most nights – went for runs. She said I should try doing the Marathon. I said, ‘Why not?’ I’ll give it a shot.”Marathoners run in Palladino’s family (pun intended). His father has run two marathons, and his brother Andy will run with his girlfriend, Michelle Busichella, this year.Thomas Palladino is running to benefit cancer research at Dana-Farber.”This was something Merrill had gotten into,” Palladino said. “She had been a member of the Dana-Farber race team for a while. We got our numbers through Dana-Farber.” Palladino added that this was “a big motivation for us to run.”Palladino may live in Melrose now, but his Saugus roots are strong. He played on the 1999 Saugus High state championship hockey team as a forward. Today he owns a Saugus-based landscaping company, Palladino Landscaping, now in its third year. And in a few days, he’ll add “marathoner” to his resume.Is there any friendly competition between Palladino and Stead?”She’s definitely going to beat me,” he said. “There’s just no doubt. She’s a very accomplished runner.”