Coast runners prepare for Boston Marathon
The 127th Boston Marathon will take place Monday, April 17th featuring nearly 30,000 athletes from more than 100 countries.
Today, News 25’s Jazell Ladner talked to some Coast runners who will be in the field.
The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world’s most prestigious road racing events. Twelve people from the Coast are going this year. Leonard Vergunst has been preparing for the 26-mile race since last year. This will be his 12th time going to compete. “One thing that’s really unique about the Boston Marathon is the fact that you have to qualify to get in. The qualifying standards are pretty strict. You have to run in your age group for a certain time to get in, which makes it kind of prestigious. Many of us have been doing mini-half marathons throughout the fall and the winter. So, we’re battle tested, race ready. At least once a week, on weekends usually, we’ll go out and do a long run, maybe 20 miles or so. To keep the base up 60 to 70 miles a week and if that’s really what you need to do to prepare.”
The group has been training twice a week at the Ocean Springs football stadium at 6:45 a.m. Gulf Coast Running Club President Jim Rusch said, “Well, I’m nervous because there are a lot of hills. They have one called heartbreak hill, which is something that I think is a five mile incline the whole way. So, we don’t get a lot of hills around South Mississippi. So, I’ve been running some bridges, out in Ocean Springs, run up and down it. Just to get practice.”
Prize money at the Boston Marathon is equally distributed among men and women in the open, masters, and wheelchair division. First place wins $150,000. “A lot of these goals are achievable if you work with people, train, and get good coaching. You can accomplish many things beyond what you think you can do.”
