BOSTON — Crisp, cold air and a welcome tailwind produced excellent finishing times on Monday in the 130th Boston Marathon. While defending champion John Korir of Kenya set a new all-time record for the 26.2-mile course from Hopkinton to the Boston Public Library — two hours, one minute and 52 seconds — several runners from Hampshire and Franklin counties either ran personal bests for the distance or at any rate were pleased by their own efforts.
“A great day!” said Lindsay Smith, 38, of South Hadley, who not only repeated last year’s performance as the area’s first finisher but took four minutes off his previous fastest time, reaching the finish line in 2:32:03. “I felt strong on the hills, then fell off (the pace) a little, but a four-minute PR is good,” he remarked. In a field of over 30,000 runners, Smith finished 489th overall.
Peter Dunn, 43, of Northampton, was similarly gratified by a new personal record for the marathon, a time of 2:39:35. “I was aiming for 2:40, and I got it,” said Dunn, who teaches urban planning at UMass. “Between teaching and being a parent, there’s always an effort to squeeze in a run,” he added, “but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve built up my endurance.” Repeating sentiments voiced by thousands of runners every year in this race, he observed that while the uphill sections of miles 16 through 20 slow one’s steps, running with so many spectators is stimulating, and he wasn’t surprised by his successful performance.
Newton’s hills are famous in marathon lore, but they’re not particularly steep compared to the roads and trails that climb from New York State’s Lake Cayuga to the campus of Cornell University and that are a demanding training ground that produces strong distance runners. Conway native Erin Hudson, 26, who raced on the Cornell cross-country team, handled the hills and the rest of the course on Monday in 2:51:01, placing first among area women and 153rd in the entire women’s field.
Jessica Holley, 29, of Northampton finished in 3:04:47. The next local finisher after her in the women’s race was Sarah Gillespie, 30, of Amherst in 3:12:10. Ericka Emerson, 54, of Belchertown placed 431st among more than 1,200 women in her age group.
Liv Lohmeier, 24, of Turners Falls, finished in 3:05:57 to place 20th among more than 100 non-binary runners.
At 64, Neal Gifford of Greenfield assumes his fastest marathons are behind him, but he was audibly pleased with 3:24:52 this year. “I’m happy with my time, based on my level of fitness,” he remarked in a phone call after the race. “If I were going to set a new PR it would have been today, but the snow this winter made it hard to train. When people ask me what’s the hardest part of this race, I say it’s running 18 training miles on a treadmill in February.”
Jeff Mish, 68, of Hadley echoed others’ observations about the weather. “A tailwind makes a big difference going up those hills,”he commented. Mish’s time, 3:35:49, placed him 85th among the more than 500 men in the 65-69-year age group.
Brian Coyne, 27, of Northampton finished in 2:45:08. Scott Monroe, 47, of Florence, slipped neatly under the three-hour mark, finishing in 2:59:36. Immanuel Wineman, 47, also from Northampton, arrived in 3:16:03.
Other local finishers were Kailean Hubbard, 30, of Amherst (3:18:49); Brian Williams, 60, of Hatfield (3:37:26); Amy Rusiecki, 48, of South Deerfield (3:44:28); Sarah Rury, 48, of Northfield (3:47:32); Alex Wirth-Cauchon, of South Hadley(3:55:23); David Theoharides, 72, of South Deerfield (4:07:26); Brian Farmer, 45, of Ware (4:34:33); and Jeff Florek, 33, of Southampton (4:43:48).
Seventy-two-year-old Bill Romito of Leeds finished in 5:35:39, far behind his all-time best performances, which included many under three hours, but he was happy to break six hours this time. More significantly, he reached a record few runners anywhere can match, now having completed the Boston Marathon for 40 consecutive years.