Marathon Man

Who: Ryan Gorman, a North Lake College Writing Center tutor and University of Dallas doctoral student in politics. Irving resident, and native of New Braunfels,
TX.

What/Where: The 109th Annual Boston Marathon, the world’s most venerable and prestigious marathon. A hilly 26.2 mile run from rural Hopkinton, Mass. to downtown Boston. Over 20,000 competitors from around the world, all of whom must qualify for the race by running a marathon under the qualifying standards. In terms of on-site media coverage, the Boston Marathon ranks behind only the Super Bowl as the largest single-day sporting event in the world. Approximately 500,000 spectators line the course annually.

When: The marathon is always held on Patriot’s Day, which is the third Monday of April. This year the race was on Monday, April 18.

Why: “Ever since I started running in high school, I have wanted to run the Boston Marathon because it is considered the pinnacle distance running event in the world. Last year I ran my first marathon in Fort Worth in order to get a qualifying time to run at Boston. Thankfully, I did qualify, so this year I decided to go up and run the race.

“As for why I run in general, I would say that I love running because it teaches important lessons about life: dedication, sacrifice, perseverance, humility, and triumph – these are but a few of the many things that one can learn through running.”

Results: Finished 95th overall with a time of 2:39:48, which averages out to 6:06 per mile. He was the first Texan to finish, and was the 60th finisher from the United States. The overall winner was Hailu Negussie from Ethiopia with a time of 2:11:45. The first American was Alan Culpepper from Colorado, who finished an impressive fourth at 2:13:39. Peter Gilmore and Ryan Shay also had an impressive showing for the Americans, finishing 10th and 11th, respectively.

About the race: “It was an amazing experience. It was by far the most difficult thing that I have done physically in my life. “The course is deceptively challenging. In the beginning there are a lot of downhills, so you naturally run faster. However, the downhills really put a lot of stress on the quad muscles.

“At about the 16-mile mark, there is a series of difficult up-hill climbs, culminating with the notorious ‘Heartbreak Hill’ from mile 20 to 21. When I got to this point, I hit the proverbial ‘wall,’ and my pace slowed considerably. The last six miles, all I could think about was finishing. Thanks in large part to the awesome crowd support, I was able push through, and when I crossed the finish line I was filled with great joy and a sense of accomplishment.”