MARATHON Yeropoli ready to run in Boston

The Campbell native trained on his own and qualified last September.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CAMPBELL -- B.J. Yeropoli has proved two things in distance running: You can complete your first marathon race even if the furthest you have run before that is 7 miles, and you can qualify for the Boston Marathon in only your second marathon race.
Yeropoli, 29, a Campbell Memorial (1995) and Youngstown State (2001 ) graduate, has done both and attributes his achievements to a creative training regimen that he developed for himself.
"I just ran it cold. I didn't even train for it. I finished it in 3:29," said Yeropoli of his performance in the Rite Aid Marathon in Cleveland last May, his first crack at the 26-mile, 385-yard distance, at age 28.
"I did so good that I checked out the Boston Marathon qualifying time for my age and I found that it was 3:10. So I bought marathon books and studied how to train."
Buoyed by his first marathon showing, he entered the Erie Presque Isle Marathon last September and finished in 3:08 which qualified him for the Boston Marathon.
Competes Monday
Now Yeropoli, who is employed as an internal auditor for the Division of Liquor Control in the Ohio Department of Commerce, will be among an expected field of 20,000 runners in the 110th Boston Marathon Monday -- only his third marathon. The world famous race will start at noon over a course from rural Hopkinton to Boston.
The son of Rocco and JoAnn Yeropoli -- the B.J. stands for Bert-John, the first names of his two grandfathers -- Yeropoli believes he knows how he ran more than 26 miles in Cleveland after only having run only 7 miles before that.
"I run 365 days a year. My body was so accustomed to go all out every day that I didn't have to do that training. It also was mental toughness, supreme determination and physical fitness," said Yeropoli.
And, "I took two days off before the first marathon. I recovered so tremendously that my body was dying to run. It was the first time I ever took two days off."
He also believes he knows how he cut 21 minutes off of his time about four months later in Erie to qualify for Boston.
"In training for the Erie Marathon, I pushed my body to do a 6:45 pace so that when I did a 7:12 [which would result in a 3:12 marathon] it would seem easy," he said. "I wanted to get my body accustomed to that pace, so I did it every day. I went against the grain. I devised my own training schedule."
So, "Whatever your race pace goal is, if you want run 3:10 marathon you have to run a 7:12 mile pace," he said. "That's what I did in Erie and I placed 19th out of 1,100 runners and was second in my age group [25-29]."
A learning experience
Yeropoli has learned a lot about distance running in the last year or so, and how it all relates to his background, training habits, style and technique.
"I have been running every day since I was 20. When I hit my late 20s, I was doing 6-7 miles a day," said Yeropoli.
But, "When you train, you should run 15 or 20 miles once a week. And you should do speed work. They recommend one long run a week."
And, "You should take 1-2 days off a week to let your body recover. And whatever you run on the other days, you should run your race tempo."
Yeropoli thinks that he may be the first person from Campbell to run in the Boston Marathon. To find out, he called the sponsoring Boston Athletic Association.
"I was curious to know if anyone from Campbell ever ran in the Boston Marathon, and they checked back to 1980, which is as far back as they would check. They didn't find anyone from Campbell," he said.
But the Boston Marathon has been run before the turn of the last century, and someone from Campbell could have been in it then.
Eyes more improvement
Yeropoli is determined to actualize his true potential as a runner, and is looking for more worlds to conquer.
Based on the progress he has achieved in a such a short span of time, he is optimistic that he can continue to improve.
"I believe my next goal will be to break three hours. But it won't be in Boston. I am going there to enjoy the moment, to have a good time and savor the investment I made to get there," he said.
Other area runners slated to run the Boston Marathon are Tom and Karen Grantonic of Boardman, Carolyn DeChristofaro of Niles and Phil Hovanic of Salem.
kovach@vindy.com