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Nine Valley runners set for Boston
120th Marathon will be Monday
By charles grove
Nine Mahoning Valley residents will be in Boston on Monday to participate in the 2016 Boston Marathon.
The participants are Ralph Barnhart (64, Canfield), Jonathan Bolha (34, Austintown), Phillip Hovanic (57, Salem), Emma Lunne (21, Canfield), Sandra Manley (46, Youngstown), Jenn Polkovitch (35, Canfield), Christine Russo (50, Canfield), Corey Yon, (38, Lowellville) and Steve Begezda (61, Poland).
Approximately 30,000 runners are expected to race the 26.2 miles course with 500,000 spectators at the Patriot’s Day event.
For Barnhart, this will be his 11th Boston Marathon and he says the experience never becomes dull or stale.
“It’s always a new experience,” Barnhart said. “I can individualize each one of them. They’re all different.
“All marathons are fine but Boston is Boston. It has its own atmosphere and own uniqueness. The fan support will be five times anywhere else you run.”
In order to qualify for the event, runners need to finish a qualifying marathon by a certain time based on their age and gender.
But due to the number of entries received from those who hit their mark, the Boston Athletic Association took only the best qualifying times they received. Runners had to beat their qualifying standard by 2 minutes and 28 seconds leaving more than 4,500 runners who hit their goal out of the race.
“It’s a nervous and anxious feeling,” Manley said. “This year, I had almost five minutes in the bank and looking at the past history I thought I should be able to get in, but you still have to wait to find out because you never know.”
For many, simply qualifying for the Boston Marathon is the accomplishment. Runners like Barnhart and Begezda, who is running his in his third Boston Marathon, say the day is more about taking in the crowd and the atmosphere rather than stressing out over what pace you’re running.
“I killed myself to qualify there so when I go there for the race I don’t kill myself,” Begezda said. “It’s a bit anti-climatic because getting there is the hardest part.
“I run my race and take it all in. I just like to take in the whole experience. The crowds are the greatest thing.”
Manley said the crowd is what makes the Boston Marathon so special.
“It’s such a huge crowd,” Manley said. “They really make it feel like they’re out there for you even though there’s 30,000 other people running.
“They look at you in your eyes and it feels like they’re cheering just for you. It’s really exciting and inspiring.”
For first-time participants like Lunne, the magnitude of the event is something she’ll have to experience for herself.
“I’m not even sure what to expect,” Lunne said. “I’m just excited. It’s overwhelming.”
Lunne was the closest thing to a sure bet in terms of qualifying when she beat her qualifying standard by almost 20 minutes at the Columbus Marathon. But a training injury in February has her now just hoping she can finish the race.
“I was going in hoping to do better than my qualifying time,” Lunne said. “But I got hurt and had to sit out all of February with a stress reaction in my shin. Now the goal is just to finish.”
The course has many different features and favorite parts for every returning runner. Begezda said the second wind runners get about the halfway mark from the Wellesley College female students is one of the highlights.
“You can hear them a mile away,” Begezda said. “They hold up signs that say, ‘Kiss me’ or ‘I can go the distance.’ One girl said she got 91 kisses from runners one year. It’s just so loud there and it pumps you up because they’re giving you extra cheers so loud.”
This year’s Boston Marathon will be the 120th, with mobility impaired and wheelchair participants starting around 9 a.m.
The first of three waves of runners will begin at around 10 a.m.