MsHerr26.2 miles in 220 min = 8:23 pace
Sure, I’m a runner and have been one since 5th grade. I was on a championship cross country team in high school and I competed for the University of New Mexico. But I never had any desire to run a marathon. Even a half was pushin’ it. Yet in 2004 I signed up with Childhelp USA as part of their Champions for Children team. I figured if there was ever a good reason to run a marathon, this was it. In October we headed to Utah for the St. George Marathon. I could tell you so many things about that race, but the bottom line is that when I crossed the finish line I was spent and waddling and nearly crying in pain. I thought: if anyone runs a marathon, feels like I do upon finishing, and chooses to do another one, something is seriously wrong with them.
They say running marathons is addictive and wouldn’t you know that within an hour, still waddling and still nearly crying, I was thinking about possibly running another marathon a few months later. I didn’t, but the desire to run another marathon, or more accurately, the premier marathon, is still with me.
I once heard that only 1% of the population has ever run a marathon, and only 1% of that 1% has ever run the Boston Marathon. It is the oldest marathon and, as far as I know, the only marathon that requires runners to achieve a qualifying time in order to race. I’ve always be a competitive athlete at my core, and as the challenge of having to prove that I’m more than good, that I’m better than most, speaks to my soul.
And because every good goal has constraints… Boston qualifying times are based on age and gender. I want to qualify for Boston while I’m in the age bracket that has the fastest qualifying time: 3 hours 40 minutes for women age 18-34. That means I need to qualify and run Boston in or before 2011. I have three years… 5 years ago
