1996 - "What an experience!" With 38,707 other runners for the 100th race!

Dave DeVaughn

I ran my first marathon in Chicago in 1992. That race started me on an addiction that would last through 17 marathons over five years. I was never a speed demon, so the marathon seemed to be my race. Everybody who runs a marathon dreams of qualifying for and running the Boston Marathon.

I was living in Corinth, Mississippi, and training with Harvey Pendergrast and Phil Hinton. We ran a couple of marathons together. Then I started training some with Kenneth Williams. Kenneth and I went on to run several marathons together. But in late 1994, I moved to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, away from all my running partners. I learned how tough it is to run in the Midwest in the winter without encouragement, but I was addicted.

I qualified for Boston at the 1995 Glass City Marathon in Toledo, Ohio. This was my 11th marathon, and I broke my PR by 12 minutes. I knew the 1996 Boston would be Number 100, and was going to be big. No way was I going to miss it! I ran three more marathons in 1995: Tupelo, Detroit, and Memphis.