April 21, 2014 - America’s Good Luck Charm

Woody Harrell

In July 1978, I finished third in the Grandfather Mountain Marathon (described as “among the most strenuous marathons in the nation”), just barely reaching my goal of under three hours. As I circled toward the finish line on the track at the Southern Highland Games, I was certain I was in fourth place. However, way up ahead of me, a running buddy of mine had made a wrong turn and was off course by a mile and a half before he discovered his error, a mistake, he was not able to overcome. It was the only time I ever came close to a marathon podium placement, so none the less, I happily accepted the third place trophy.

A few months later I read an article in a medical journal stating you lose 10% of your I.Q. every time you run a marathon. At that point my marathon total stood at nine, so I did the math, decided I didn’t have any wiggle room left, and gave up long distance running. Well, that’s what I tell people, anyway. In truth, much earlier I had injured myself while running barefoot on the beach, cutting ligaments, tendons, etc. so badly I can’t bend the toes on my left foot. This initially didn’t seem to be much of a drawback, but as I headed into middle age, my “on the ball of the foot” running style couldn’t handle the resulting ankle instability, and anything over a five mile run became very painful, so much so I had to move on to something with less pounding and abuse, like bicycling. Marathoning had become a thing of the past.

2013 - Between the Blasts: A retired judge describes the finish line terror

Roger McMillin

A total of 23,336 runners started the 2013 Boston Marathon, with 17,580 finishing. In the next few days, the Associated Press analyzed images and data including the finishing times recorded by chips on competitors’ bibs, to pinpoint some of the runners who were in the finish line area when the bombs went off. First published at Washingtontimes.com on April 20, 2013, this is one of those stories:

The Judge

Four hours, 10 minutes, 16 seconds. That’s the time stamped next to Roger McMillin's name at the Boston Marathon this year

Maybe it shouldn’t matter this year, but to McMillin, it does.

The retired chief judge of the Mississippi State Court of Appeals needed to break 4:10 to automatically qualify for a return trip to Boston to run in the 2014 marathon.

He was well on his way when he heard the first explosion rock the area near the finish line. Then the second.

2008 - Putting off Boston until Age 65 (not to mention quadruple by-pass surgery)

Vic Thayer

I began my running program at age 39; I am almost 71 at present. I have competed in almost 1,000 races, and have logged close to 60,000 miles. As a competitive runner, I have participated in races from the Carolinas to California, and Rhode Island to Florida, as well as Canada.

In 2004, my annual physical revealed I had a heart problem: four blocked arteries. I was told I had no option but to have open heart bypass surgery.

On August 31, 2004, I had the surgery and was in the hospital for about 3 1/2 days. Prior to being released, my surgeon came to my room and during our conversation, I told him I would be looking forward to training for my first marathon. The surgeon just smiled and shook his head as he left my room.

Four weeks after being released, I was walking 50 miles a week. At ten weeks post-surgery, I was back on my training/running program, and at 16 weeks I ran the "Race on the Trace" 5 miler at Natchez Trace State Park and placed in my age group. I felt so blessed to be back competing. That was in January 2005. I continued to participate in racing distances up to the half marathon.

April 16, 2007 – “This trip was all about the weather and it plagued us the entire time.”

Kenneth Williams

It took me a dozen years to get to Boston the first time. Then it took another 12 years to get back for my second. I ran my first marathon in Chicago in 1978. After that, I continued running marathons, but I limited them to one per year. I would run, cut back to maintenance mileage for several months, then build up mileage and run again. With each marathon, I always tried to improve my time enough to attain the dream of all marathoners: Boston Qualification. But the goal was elusive…

Five years passed, then five more, and I was still trying. Along the way, I filled up an impressive dance card of marathons: Toronto, Marine Corps, New York City, Montreal, Portland, Dallas, San Francisco, Baltimore, Richmond. However, none yielded a BQ time.