Story of a Star-Crossed Runner

Like many new runners, I suppose, I began long-distance running (April 2005) with the sole objective of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. I ran my first marathon, the ING NYC Marathon, in November 2005 with that goal in mind. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, I developed a tibial stress fracture 5 weeks before the marathon and was of course futilely instructed not to race by my orthopedic surgeon. I crossed-trained for 5 weeks, raced, and barely finished with a chip time of 3:49, clearly not deserving of Boston. I had just turned 38.

Since long-distance running was obviously hard on the body, I decided to give triathlon a try. I bought a bike and a book and DVD on swimming, and had a great first season in 2006, the pinnacles of which were two half-ironman races. With multiple triathlons scheduled into my 2007 season between April and November, a baby on the way in September, and a primary 2007 triathlon objective of completing the Vineman “Ironman” triathlon in August, I signed up for an early season marathon, the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, again with hopes of a Boston-worthy finish. That race was yesterday, Sunday, March 18, 2007.
US Airways cancelled many flights on Friday, March 16 and on Saturday, March 17, apparently due to inclement weather. Two of them, flying from and into two different airports, were mine. And Amtrak and Greyhound travel times were running greater than 24 hours. Needless to say, I did not make it to the starting line.

So, yesterday, on the day of “my Boston qualifier marathon,” I took matters into my own hands and created and competed in the inaugural US Airways Hometown Marathon. The race really is a triathlon of sorts in that all athletes must complete two other disciplines prior to running the marathon leg. First, two round-trip airline tickets must be purchased. Since you will not actually be flying anywhere, the destination may be any city outside your home state, and one of the tickets must be a full-fare first class ticket. Second, athletes must wait in line for at least 8 hours at two different airports on two consecutive days. Finally, competitors run the 26.2 miles on a Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS-measured two-loop course of their choosing. There is no course support or race magic, absolutely no outside assistance is permitted, and runners must carry their own fluids and nutrition over the entire 26.2 mile distance. The course has not been certified by the Boston Athletic Association, yet.

As expected, there was only one finisher this year:
Elapsed time Official time Chip time

1. McClinton, Mark 3:18:21 3:18:21 3:18:21

Since I turn 40 this September, I just qualified for the 112th Boston Marathon in 2008. No, I don’t have a certificate or finisher’s medal; just a Garmin Forerunner 305 digital file that will never be erased. And I’ll always know that my efforts, and my time, were Boston-worthy.

Mark E. McClinton, M.D.
Runner, Triathlete, Physician