YSU sophomore ready for Boston
Sam Gindlesberger says he can’t wait.
That’s both understandable and an understatement since the Youngstown State University sophomore was shut out of the Boston Marathon entry process in 2011, only to be accepted this time.
“I can tell you that because of all of this, it was that much sweeter to receive official entrant status — really exciting,” Gindlesberger said recently. “This will be my first Boston. I can’t wait.”
The biology major’s disappointment came after his qualifying time at the 2010 Columbus Marathon seemed for naught when heavy volume during online registration clogged up the system and crashed.
“I tried getting registered, but due to the extreme volume of people, the website was seriously congested and I along with others [were] shut out of the 2011 running,” he said.
Gindlesberger’s qualifying time in Columbus (3:00:32) was more than enough to meet the 3:10:59 minimum at the time.
“Fortunately for me, the Boston Athletic Association decided to change the entrance process to a staggered system, so those who ran the fastest qualifying times would get to register first,” he said. “Because I had run Columbus, I had a full year of eligibility, so I was still good to register for Boston 2012, and because I had run more than 5 minutes faster than my qualifying time I was able to register earlier.
“It was both unexpected and disappointing to get shut out of Boston in 2011, so with the help of my dad, I made sure to take all the necessary steps to get registered.”
Another YSU student, Mitchell Thornton, will be making his second straight Boston Marathon appearance.
Last year, Thornton, a junior majoring in English, finished the Boston Marathon in 2:47:55 (6:25 pace per mile). He was 470 out of roughly 26,000 finishers.
Thornton, of McDonald, has also completed both the Chicago and New York City marathons.
Cory Okular will be making a back-to-back appearance after finishing 1,255th overall with a time of 2:58:11 in 2011.
The YSU junior recently won the election to become the next president of student government.
“I hope to better my time from last year,” said Okular, a 2009 Cardinal Mooney graduate. “However, the conditions were so good last year it will be tough to better my time.”
Then there’s Joe Sliman of Boardman, who won’t be running due to a non-running injury, but he’s planning to support other area qualifiers who will compete.
“I qualified and wanted to run, but I have to put it on hold. It didn’t work out this year.”
The 57-year-old Sliman, a Peace Race board member, has three Boston Marathons under his belt, although he’s a multiple qualifier.
“I ran Boston in past years and always enjoyed the weekend for its quality field, it’s tradition and its pageantry. This time, I’ll be a part of it but not running. I’ll be a bystander cheering for the area runners.”
Sliman ran in Boston’s 100th anniversary race in 1996, but used it as a warm-up for the Cleveland Marathon.
“I used Boston as a training run, not a race, per se, because I wanted to save a little going into Cleveland three weeks later,” Sliman said of the dual draws. “That year, everybody wanted to be part of the 100th because it was a big event. Hopefully, I’ll get an opportunity to qualify and run again. I definitely want to go back and run it.”
Mark Osborne of Hermitage, Pa., is another qualified individual who won’t be running because of injury.
Like Gindlesberger, Osborne, 54, qualified in during the Columbus Marathon in October 2010, but recently had knee surgery.
“I’m taking it easy right now,” said Osborne, whose last competition was a 5k in February.
Osborne, however, ran in the two previous Boston Marathons, finishing in 3:33 in 2010 and 3:54 in 2011.