Tough luck is all relative I suppose. There are real tragedies in the world. That's what I cover most days of the week in my regular job. So I know this is not a life altering tragedy. But it is disappointment. That's what my friend Jodie Cleveland is dealing with right now. She ran her first marathon just two years ago in Milwaukee. Jodie is a good athlete, so it was no great surprise that she ran well. Her husband and I ran track together back in college. Actually we never ran together. He was a stud sprinter. I was a middling distance runner. But I digress.
Jodie is the the middle of the photo wearing the blue shorts and white hat. She ran well enough to win her age group, and qualify for Boston. Since she and I are close to the same age, I can attest that her age group is the "starting to get up there' or the 'no longer a kid' age group. But it was a great accomplishment, nevertheless, to do so well in her first effort at the marathon distance.
Then came her training for Boston. She was following a program, and doing well all winter. I ran a couple times with her as part of my own training for Boston. The last time we ran together was with a couple of my other running partners in Barrington. It was a hilly 12 miler about two weeks out from the marathon, and it ended up being Jodie's last run of the season. She got injured, apparently during that run, and had to cancel her Boston plans. She was devastated. I felt horrible, considering I had invited her to join us on that run.
But she kept a good attitude, and recovered well enough to run an even better time this fall at the Chicago marathon. Funny, she never did any training runs with me leading up to that race. But anyway, she ran another p.r. and qualified for Boston again. She was excited to once again start training for the April race. She didn't sign up immediately, but that should have been no big deal. Because of the strict qualifying times, it usually doesn't fill up before the end of the year.
This year, however, was different. They closed registration at 25,000 runners on November 13. It was the earliest in history. Part of the reason might be that the weather was pretty good this year in Chicago, so many runners were able to run qualifying times here and in New York, where it was also nice. Many of them probably signed up right after their race, and the field was full in record time.
In any case, I think you can guess what happened to Jodie. She was shut
out, and once again is forced to look at other options for her next race. She says running
Boston was not some lifelong goal of hers, but now that she's been
unable to run the last couple years, she really wants it much more.
There are lots of people in the same boat. Plenty of late season marathons advertise themselves as Boston qualifiers, but it won't be for this year. I have friends who ran the Philadelphia marathon a few days after the Boston registration had already closed. They were pretty disappointed to say the least. It was the same story last weekend with the Dallas White Rock marathon, and all the other races around the country that traditionally serve as qualifiers for Boston. The time is good for two years, but that does them no good for this coming April.
It's probably a testament to the popularity of not only Boston, but the marathon in general. The big races just keep getting bigger, and the smaller races keep getting less small. I've heard talk that Boston may consider lowering the qualifying times as a result. That may just be gossip, with no basis of truth, but it is logical. And it would be tough on runners like myself, whose marathon times are right at the border of the current qualifying standards. So we'll see what happens. Meantime, here is a link to the Boston marathon site. http://www.bostonmarathon.org/BostonMarathon/114thMarathon.asp
photo by Victah Sailer
Meantime, one guy who may run the marathon eventually is tearing up the cross country world right now. I had the opportunity to spend some time with Lukas Verzbicas a couple months ago as part of a story on his triathlon team and their hopes for the Olympics some day. Lukas is 16 year old sophomore at Sandburg high school and happens to be quite a good overall athlete who excels in all three disciplines of the triathlon. But distance running fans are especially excited about his potential.
He won the state cross country individual title easily. Last
weekend, however, he was up against the best high school runners in the
country at the Foot Locker Championships, and he won the race going
away. It's going to be fun to watch him progress over the next couple
years. Here is a link to a story about his race. http://www.southtownstar.com/sports/highschools/1936646,121309sptverzbicas.article
Very nice article, especially since you're talking about my daughter-in-law. Thank you.
Dona Cleveland
Belmond, IA.
Posted by: Dona Cleveland | December 18, 2009 at 06:59 PM
Nice article. Jodie's accomplishments are even more remarkable considering that she has what is commonly a debilitating degenerative back condition. She has taken on a terrific physical regimen in part to combat that condition. I had the occassion to speed walk some hills with her in northwest Arkansas a few years ago, before she began her marathon running training regimen. Always optimistic and determined, she serves as a beacon of inspiration for me. She'll run Boston at some point because of her personal determination and drive. I consider myself blessed and fortunate to share life's experiences with her. Quite a younger sister! Thank you.
Posted by: Kevin Wallace | December 21, 2009 at 11:16 AM