Boston Marathon April 18, 2005 Perhaps no other marathon in the world has the mystique and prestige of the Boston Marathon. Its roots go back to 1897, the year after the first modern marathon was held at the first Olympic Games at Athens, Greece, in 1896. Ever since then, the race has grown in importance to runners, especially to marathoners who make it a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to run Boston or to those who once they have experienced the run, revisit it more often.

Including the April 18, 2005, running of the event, I have run it nine times between 1983 and 2005. I qualify for the race most years, but I savor the experience more if I return to Boston every two to three years. When I first started running marathons, my times fell far short of a 3:20 qualifying time for a 51 year old male.

Like many runners wishing to qualify for the Boston Marathon, I shopped around for one with cool weather and few hills. The Third Olympic Marathon held in February at St. Louis was a cool weather marathon that helped me reach my goal. In 1982 I ran a 3:36:43 there and improved my personal record by 17 minutes, so I had hopes for better times to come. The following year at the same event I ran a 3:17:51 for a new PR and was "Boston Bound."

Two months later in cool rain, I ran my first Boston Marathon on April 18, 1983, in a time of 3:36:35. I remember that a hamstring cramp in the Newton Hills had to be massaged and walked off in order to return to running. Shortly after I finished, Johnny Kelly, the patriarch and two-time winner at Boston, crossed the finish line. It was a thrill to see him!

That was the year that Greg Meyer won with a 2:09:00. He was the last U.S. citizen to win the Boston Marathon. 1983 was also the year that Joan Benoit set a women's world record with a time of 2:22:43.

This year my homing instinct to run Boston coincided with that of our friend Ed Driver's recently acquired qualifying time. Both of us had qualified last October at the Royal Victoria Marathon with times so close that our Boston bib numbers were one digit apart!

The Drivers from Palm Desert, California, joined the Dolphins from Renton & Yakima, Washington, for a weekend in New England. We arrived at packet pickup early on Saturday morning. It was there that we said, "Hi," to Rich Benyo of Marathon and Beyond and visited briefly with Rick Nealis, Marine Corps Marathon Race Director, as we waited for the doors to open.

At the Expo is was exciting to see Bruce Quam from Steilacoom wearing a Yakima River Canyon Marathon 2004 participant shirt. During our two visits to the Expo, we had a chance to visit others from "home" (Bill Barmore, Dale Shoup and Gene Morris) and to chat with Dick Beardsley and Jan Seeley at the Marathon and Beyond booth, Les Wright at his Lake Tahoe Marathon booth, Rick Nealis and everyone at the Marine Corps Marathon Booth.

Next, we attended the first annual Race Directors' Conference where we met John Elliott, president of the famous MarathonGuide.com, for the first time. The panel and speakers were interesting, but the highlight of the afternoon was the presentation by Dave McGillivry, Boston Marathon race director.

He discussed many of the problems and challenges that are faced in staging this point-to-point race through the towns as the 20,453 runners would share a 32 foot wide state highway on their 26.2 mile trek to downtown Boston. This marathon is a historical event that is committed to the present course route and format. If it weren't for tradition, who would begin a marathon at NOON?

On race day, we were scheduled to ride a bus that left the Boston Common between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. for the Hopkinton staging area known as "Athletes Village." While waiting for the noon start, there was plenty of opportunity to have refreshments, listen to music and to visit with other runners.

It was there that we met Tony Phillippi, one of the Marathon Maniac Founders from Tacoma, who told us that he was going "all out" on his run. He kept his word and finished with a 3:07:36, a great time on a warm day on a tough, hilly course.

When Ed and I reported to our roped-off corral #16, we found our friend Jack Swanson from Spokane and Dick Johnson from Gig Harbor. The corral system permitted the wheelchair athletes to start first at 11:25 a.m. and the elite women to leave at 11:31 a.m. The elite men lined up between the starting line and corral #1 to ensure an unimpeded start. Everyone else was ranked by qualifying times.

We were so far back that we didn't hear the starting cannon's booming sound. As we walked, halted, and walked some more, it took me 18 minutes and 40 seconds to reach the starting line timing mat.

My run followed a familiar pattern of the last six months. I ran for four miles and then added some walking on the hills. I ran less and walked more as time passed until by the 15th mile, my lateral tilt to the right forced me to continuously walk the Newton Hills and the remainder of the course.

When I reached the finish line in 6:38:10, I tilted quite a bit from pushing the pace. The next thing I knew was that I was being whisked to the nearby medical tent in a wheelchair. After a drink of Gatorade and a little rest, I was given a finisher's medal and released.

It was then that I learned who had won the marathon. For the men, it was Hailu Negussie of Ethiopia who ran a 2:11:45. He was followed by two Kenyans, Wilson Onsare (2:12:21) and Benson Cherono (2:12:48). In fourth place was Alan Culpepper of Colorado (2:13:39), with the best finishing time by an American since 2001 and the best finishing position since 1987.

Another Kenyan, Catherine Ndereba, won her fourth Boston Marathon with a time of 2:25:15. Elfenesh Alemu of Ethiopia came in second (2:27:03), and Bruna Genovese of Italy ran a 2:29:51 for third place.

Congratulations to Gunhild Swanson, 60, of Spokane for winning the Women's Seniors Division (ages 60 and over) in a time of 3:44:43. She had a three minute and forty-one second lead over Cheiko Tanaka of Japan. Gunhild recently broke the record for the 60-64F Division at the Yakima River Canyon Marathon on April 2, 2005, with a 3:38:19!

Congratulations to another good friend Gina Moore, a flight attendant from Dallas, Texas, who ran her 100th career marathon at Boston. She ran her first marathon in 1998, so it took her only seven years to reach her 100 marathon goal and become eligible to join the 100 Marathon Club North America.

In addition to Gina this club gained another new member, Boston's race director Dave McGillivry. He traditionally runs the Boston Marathon between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on race day and completed his 118th marathon on April 18th. Welcome to these two new members!

This year's Boston Marathon was the 25th anniversary of the infamous finish of Rosie Ruiz. She jumped into the race near the end of the course and crossed the finish line as the apparent women's winner. The real winner, Jacqueline Gareau of Canada, finished in 2:34:28 to modest applause. After it was confirmed that Rosie Ruiz was a fraud, Jacqueline was given her due awards and a place in the record books.

The finish line glory that she had been cheated of in 1980 was given to her this year. She ran the last 100 yards to the finish line to receive a long overdue winner's reception of cheers, a wreath, a medal and of hearing her national anthem, "Oh, Canada." She commented that the 100 yards she ran this year was Rosie's distance 25 years ago!

It was another great Boston Marathon weekend. I've qualified for the 2006 Boston Marathon, but at this time I don't plan to return so soon. While I'm waiting for my running to return to "normal," I'm back to setting Boston Marathon goals again like I did in 1981.

The Marathon Maniacs were well represented at the Boston Marathon with at least 34 members participating. This is almost one-fourth of the membership, and this demonstrates how talented and dedicated they are to marathoning. The following is a list of Maniacs who were in the Boston Marathon on April 18, 2005.

2:57:21  Gary Allen, 48, Cranberry Island, ME
3:47:41  Laura Bleakley, 35, Vacaville, CA
3:07:51  Andre Boulais, 43, Irvine, CA
3:19:05  Alicia Britt, 42, Seattle, WA
4:22:47  Kevin Brosi, 50, Flower Mound, TX
3:59:10  Barb Bumann, 51, Spokane, WA
3:23:22  Ruben Contreras, 50, Stanwood, WA
4:23:22  Tom Detore, 57, Unadilla, NE
6:38:10  Bob Dolphin, 75, Renton/Yakima, WA
3:31:42  Marc Frommer, 52, Portland, OR
3:22:49  Eric Gierke, 41, Shoreline, WA
3:30:50  Al Harman, 43, Vancouver, BC
4:18:20  Christine Humble, 51, Scottsdale, AZ
4:07:45  Ron Knecht, 61, Sun River, OR
3:14:31  Mike Lavague-Manty, 38, Ann Arbor, MI
3:43:09  Mark Looi, 44, Issaquah, WA
5:37:37  Larry Macon, 60, San Antonio, TX
3:37:58  Chris Marr, 50, Spokane, WA
               Franklin Mason,                SC
4:05:36  Don Mukai, 56, Bellevue, WA
3:56:30  Keith Panzer, 46, Aurora, CO
3:07:36  Tony Phillippi, 43, Tacoma, WA
4:14:58  David Reid, 57, Crestline, CA
              Rian Rosenthal,                      WA
3:59:04  Greg Roth, 51, Richmond, VA
3:58:25  Dale Shoup, 57, Edmonds, WA
3:42:49  Lorne Sundby, 40, St. Albert, AB
3:44:43  Gunhild Swanson, 60, Spokane Valley, WA
4:57:54  Jack Swanson, 71, Spokane Valley, WA
3:10:44  Annie Thiessen, 34, Tacoma, WA
5:20:07  Cathy Troise, 59, Seneca Falls, NY
3:12:32  Gregg Walchli, 42, Seattle, WA
3:46:00  Amy Yanni, 51, Rapid City, SD
3:33:37  Steven Yee, 45, Renton, WA

 Written by Bob Dolphin

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