Ten members of the Comox Valley Road Runners have qualified to compete in the 115th Boston Marathon on April 18.
Boston is the grandaddy of all marathons. It is the oldest marathon in North America and to many, the most prestigious race in the world. This will be the culmination of many months and in some cases, years, of hard preparation for the CVRR athletes tackling this 42.2km course, home of the infamous Heart Break Hill.
Most runners will never tackle a marathon. Of those who do, only a select few will qualify to run the Boston Marathon. Boston requires runners to meet a difficult designated time standard corresponding to their age group in another marathon within the last 18 months. This makes for one of the fastest fields in any marathon. The competition is truly world class.
The race is so popular that this year, in spite of rigid qualifying standards, the 27,000 entries filled up online in only eight hours. With so many entries the marathon has three waves of start times at 7 a.m., 7:20 a.m. and 7:40 a.m. PST time.
Veteran CVRR marathoner Janet Green will be competing in her 15th Boston. Other veterans returning to challenge this difficult course again are Robyn Dicesare (9th), Wayne Crowe (4th), Karen Sibley (2nd) and Roz Smith (2nd). First timers are Brad Crowe, Danny Keyes (whose young daughter is running in the 5K event), Cheryl Eldridge, Korky Richardson and Karen Tobacca.
With the hard training now behind them, these athletes are now prepared for whatever challenges Boston has to offer them. Those interested in tracking the CVRR members in real time can log onto the BAA web site at bostonmarathon.org and enter the runner's race number. You will then be able to track each runner's times as they cross various points along the course.
Boston Race Numbers: Wayne Crowe #773, Brad Crowe #1,022, Danny Keyes #10,778, Roz Smith #13,053, Cheryl Eldridge #17,101, Janet Green #17,643, Robyn Dicesare #19,253, Karen Tobacca #19,262, Korky Richardson #19,692, Karen Sibley #20,521.
– Comox Valley Road Runners