Apryl Sabadosa views Monday’s Boston Marathon as a stepping stone.
The 32-year-old Western Mass Distance Project member has focused her attention on running — and winning — shorter races recently rather than the distance training that can help improve marathon times.
The Westfield resident won a 5-kilometer race in Hadley recently and finished first overall in a different 5k earlier this month.
Because of that she’s lukewarm on her prospects from a competitive standpoint.
“I haven’t focused solely on this marathon. I’ve had races the last six weekends, just about,” Sabadosa said. “I’ve raced a ton.”
Western Mass Distance Project captain Amy Rusiecki has a different view of her teammate.
She sees Sabadosa and Kelsey Allen as two of the team’s potential top runners despite them not focusing specifically on Monday’s race.
“She finished third at the Holyoke 10k. Typically if you’re not African you don’t hit a podium there. She’s coming off a real hot streak,” Rusiecki said of Sabadosa. “She’s never quite nailed it at the marathon. She has the ability to do well, but if you look at her shorter distances it would indicate she could finish a marathon a lot faster than the results show. Hopefully this is her year.”
Like every year and every race, Sabadosa will run without shoes. Her precious 14 marathons have been barefoot, too.
“I started running barefoot when I first began running,” Sabadosa said. “I thought it made a lot of sense. It’s natural.”
Sabadosa said she’d be happy to finish the race in under three hours given the level of attention she’s paid to training specifically for it. Yet Sabadosa still wants to be able to run it faster if she can.
“I feel like I’m always in this place like, ‘yeah I did really well, but I can go further, and I didn’t do it. Why didn’t I do it? What is it going to take? How much more can I push myself?’ I know I need to,” Sabadosa said. “I know where I should be in terms of the people I compete with. The people I can beat in a 5k and 10k and run with have run Olympic Trials times (in the marathon). I know those girls, and I know I should be able to do what they’re doing. They’re running 2:45s, 2:43s. No, I’m not going for a 2:45. That’s not the goal. I’m not there. I know I’m not there.”
As for Allen?
“She’s a little 90-pound beast. She’s super fast. She trains mostly on the trails. Her bigger goal is not the Boston Marathon,” Rusiecki said. “She’s using the Boston Marathon to train up for the (USATF 50 Mile Trail Championships), which are in early June. This is just a stepping stone for her.”
Those two and Rusiecki help form the core of the Western Mass Distance Project’s women’s team.
The team finished sixth two years ago, and Rusiecki would like them to try and crack the top-10 again this year.
The team certainly won’t lack for fan support.
“We’ve got a jersey with the state of Massachusetts on the front, so people go extra nuts when they see us because they know we’re representing Massachusetts,” Rusiecki said. “We’re the home kids.”
On the men’s side, the Western Mass Distance Project will be without its top Boston finisher from last season, former UMass runner Jason Ayr.
The 28-year-old Westfield native finished 34th last year in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 14 seconds.
He won’t be running in the 120th Boston Marathon after experiencing what he called “hiccups” in training, but will still make the trip to offer support.
“I’m pretty bummed to be taking to the sidelines this year, but I have some excitement to experience the spectator version of the event,” Ayr said.
The other top-100 male finishers with western Mass. ties from last season, Hadley native Brad Mish, will toe the line in Hopkinton for the fourth time.
He was 99th last year in 2:32:36.
The goal for 2016 is to break 2:30.
“I ran a personal best half in the buildup to this at the New Bedford Half Marathon that I was pretty excited about,” Mish said. “Coming up I always do a decent amount less mileage than most people doing a marathon. It’s hard for me to project out to a full (marathon).”
Mish runs for the Boston Athletic Association, which puts on the event.
As such, the club expects to win the team competition and was disappointed by its sixth-place finish last season.
“The BAA puts it on, so we’re supposed to win it,” Mish said.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.