“I used to be the only non-runner in my family,” says Ian Cunningham, a Yarmouth County resident who is getting ready to do his first Boston Marathon.
It’s a Friday morning in late March, a day off work for Cunningham, who pretty soon will head out for a run, but for now he’s taken a few minutes to talk a bit about Boston and about how he got into the sport.
On April 15, Cunningham, a 45-year-old native of Cape Sable Island who lives in the Dayton area, will toe the line of the world’s most famous road race, an event that has been held annually since 1897.
“I’m starting to really get excited,” Cunningham says.
His training has gone well. He has been injury-free. The winter hasn’t too bad for the most part.
Cunningham qualified for Boston at a marathon in Toronto in the fall of 2017. He had met the qualifying standard twice before but wasn’t able to get a Boston berth on those occasions because there were too many faster qualifiers and Boston organizers can only accommodate so many runners.
And it seems the event is more popular than ever, given that last year Boston announced it was toughening its entry requirements, lowering them by five minutes for every age group.
Cunningham had hoped to do Boston this year with friend and fellow local runner Darcy Robbins, but – again due to the popularity of Boston and the number of people meeting the qualifying standard – Robbins didn’t run quite fast enough to get a berth.
“He missed it by seconds,” Cunningham says. “We planned to run it together because we both thought we’d qualified ... We were both disappointed. I wanted someone to run it with.”
Cunningham wasn’t always this enthusiastic about running. Even though he had runners in his family – including some who had done Boston – he recalls a time when he had no interest in becoming a runner himself.
“I used to say, ‘you guys are crazy, I wouldn’t want to go out and do that,’” he remembers. “They talked me into doing a leg of the Rum Runners Relay, so I decided I’d do that, just 3.8 kilometres.”
A couple of weeks later, his wife asked him about doing a 5K in the Annapolis Valley. This was eight, maybe nine years ago.
“After that I was just hooked,” he says.
Training has become a huge part of his life, whether he’s eyeing a running event or a triathlon, including the Ironman, which he has done before and plans to tackle again this summer. (He is one of several locals planning to do the Ironman in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, in August.)
As for the marathon, although this will be Cunningham’s first time running Boston, it won’t be the biggest race he’s experienced. That would be New York City, the biggest marathon of all.
“New York is an amazing marathon,” he says. “There wasn’t a time that you weren’t surrounded by people and there was a live band every mile.”
But Boston is sure to be memorable too. Just the weather could make it so, given that conditions on the third Monday of April in Massachusetts can range from almost perfect to downright miserable. Regardless, Cunningham looks forward to taking part in the historic race.
“It’s the one everyone strives for.”
Runners reflect on Boston
The Vanguard invited a few other runners – people who have run Boston before – to share some of their thoughts about the race and about what makes Boston special.
Marco Albright
A four-time Boston participant, Marco Albright ran his first Boston in 2009 and he also did it the year of the bombing in 2013.
Like so many runners who have taken part in the historic race, Albright said the crowds there are tremendous.
“It’s phenomenal,” he said. “There’s so much support. That whole city embraces the marathon and people come out to cheer the runners ... It’s just amazing, thousands and thousands of spectators cheering you on.”
Knowing it’s the longest-running marathon in the world and that the greatest runners have run it also makes it unique, Albright said.
“And, of course,, when you get down to that finish, wow, it’s just unbelievable. Just a great, incredible experience.”
Erryl Hines
A nine-time participant in the Boston Marathon, Erryl Hines ran it for the first time in 1993.
Recalling the period leading up to his Boston debut, Hines said he was more into triathlons back then and that qualifying for Boston hadn’t been a longtime goal of his.
“But I got hooked on the first experience,” he said. “I think it was the history and community spirit of the Boston Marathon that captured my imagination.”
Hines went on to run Boston five straight years, the fourth of those being 1996, when the Boston race celebrated its 100th anniversary.
“I think the Boston Marathon has a certain magic for the everyday runner,” he said. With some hard work and determination, he said, runners who otherwise might not get much glory or attention can take aim at a berth in the most famous running event in the world.
Denise Robson
A 10-time runner of the Boston Marathon, Denise Robson did her first Boston in 2005 and five years later, in 2010, she had her proudest running accomplishment when she won Boston’s women’s masters division.
“With its net downhill that can beat up your quads, the unrelenting rolling hills and unpredictable New England weather, the Boston Marathon has been the toughest marathon I have run,” Robson said. “Even my recovery following this marathon is longer. However, the Boston course has been surprisingly very good to me.”
Known to many Yarmouth residents for all of the Sheila Poole 10K women’s titles she’s captured (she won the annual summertime road race for the 12th time last year), Robson said she’s grateful whenever she gets to run Boston.
“For me, Boston is special because of its history and spectators,” she said.
Angie Saulnier
It was cold, rainy and windy on Boston Marathon day last year, when longtime runner Angie Saulnier made her Boston debut.
“The weather was so bad that day and there were still people along most of the course,” she said.
Saulnier had a problem with her IT band and ended up walking the last four kilometres. She was struck by the number of people asking her if she was okay and said she was well taken care of afterwards.
“The support was just amazing,” she said.
It was an emotional day for Saulnier, whose cousin Michelle died the day before the race.
“I ran with her in my heart and my mind and had a few tears running with the raindrops on my face that day,” Saulnier wrote on her Facebook page.
As for those runners who have never done Boston but who are considering it, she encourages them to go for it.
“You will not regret it,” she said, “no matter what the clock says at the end.”
Qualifying for Boston:
Getting into the Boston Marathon already was tough, but it’s even tougher now. The following are the new entry standards that were announced last fall. The first numbers listed are the different age categories, followed by the qualifying times for men and women:
18-34 – men 3:00; women 3:30
35-39 – men 3:05; women 3:35
40-44 – men 3:10; women 3:40
45-49 – men 3:20; women 3:50
50-54 – men 3:25; women 3:55
55-59 – men 3:35; women 4:05
60-64 – men 3:50; women 4:20
65-69 – men 4:05; women 4:35
70-74 – men 4:20; women 4:50
75-79 – men 4:35; women 5:05
80+ -- men 4:50; women 5:20
While most Boston Marathon entry slots are reserved for people who meet the qualifying standard, organizers set aside a few thousand numbers for runners affiliated with one of the marathon’s official charities.
