Tim Smith Run for the Red Marathon Today

[ericjoe]

Tim Smith ran an impressive 3:01+ in his debut marathon this morning at the Run for the Red Marathon in Tobyhanna, PA. He needed a 3:10:59 or less to qualify for Boston. Fantastic job Tim!

I will post all the official results and placing when they are published.

***
Update

22 6 Timothy Smith, 24, Glen Burnie, MD 1:30:57 3:01:47 3:01:48 6:56

Tim placed 22nd out of 422 runners

***

[frojoe23]

A fantastic race by Tim. A very smartly run race. As hard as he works, he'll be under 2:55 come Chicago!

[baldisbetter]

Yes Sir, Well Done Tim.

[kevinspradlin]

When's the last time area marathoners have been this strong.

We've got a lot of men under 3:05/3:10 - I'd hate to start a list for fear of leaving people out - and our area women are kicking butt & taking names, too.

[frojoe23]

Kevin, it has been a while. Of course, 15-20 years ago those guys and gals were a bit faster than we are now. There's no denying it - the times speak for themselves. The depth then was tremendous, but I like to think that we are headed that way again.
I've been very impressed with everybody willing to put in the training and tackle the marathon the last couple of years - and the results are another thing to brag about.

I was upset not to be able to participate in one this spring, but I'm proud of everybody else who did - they have all represented our area well. And with some young marathoners starting off with a bang (Woody Snoberger, Tim Smith, Scott Bonnette, Eric Joe, Amy Rowan), I'm truly excited to see what the next year (or ten years for that matter) will bring.

[woody]

Great Job Tim!!!

[ericjoe]

Thanks for including me in the "young" list but I think that ship has sailed Tim on the other hand is still young and I am really anxious to see what he can do this fall.

[Justin]

Awesome run Tim.

I agree with the excitement about the local running scene. I'd love to add to the depth if I can ever get myself healthy enough for a long training stint. We should try and get some big group runs or workouts this summer.

[gdbrown]

It is great to see a renewed interest in marathons in this area.

While Jaron's assessment is true that there was more depth in the early to mid 80s, there was also a larger population to draw from at that time, and we were at the height of the "running boom." (I can name at least three individuals who were Boston qualifiers at that time who have since moved away, due to job transfers.) Keep in mind, too, that for runners under 40 the qualifying standard for Boston was sub 2:50 during that era. In the '82 Boston Marathon, there were no less than 8-10 people from this area who ran in the open division. There were some folks in the area who ran in the low 2:50s who just missed the opportunity to compete in Beantown.

Being a firm believer that runners "on the bubble" set goals based on qualifying standards, I want to think if the qualifying standard for Boston was once again set at sub 2:50 for the open division there would be many in this area who would ultimately reach that goal just as they have met the sub 3:00 standard. At the very least, they would set PRs.

Justin mentioned getting "some big group runs" in this summer. Looking back, this was a key ingredient for those of us doing marathon training. Starting in mid to late August, we would meet at the fire hydrant in front of the gymnasium at what was then ACC at 7:00 a.m. every Sunday morning for a 20 miler. These runs were "big group runs" - we would have between 12-20 runners. Typically, everybody would stay together for the first ten miles and then the field would spread out. Most of the time those who finished in front of the pack would hang out at the fire hydrant until the last person finished.

I apologize for being long-winded, but I want to commend the running community for its efforts and to share a bit of this area's runnin' past with you. It's neat to see so many in the community once again working together for a common purpose - a common purpose that I know once brought much joy and comaraderie to local marathoners in the past who understood what it meant to experience "excrutiating ectasy" upon completing 26.2 miles. Keep up the good work and congrats to all!

[Justin]

I agree Coach. The thing that impresses me about the current group of guys is how many of them are running their first marathons, or at least first couple. I'd guess there is a good jump one could expect with some experience at the distance. The sky is the limit for a lot of these guys. It really motivates me to see what is happening.

[bsp]

Congratulations Tim! I met Tim during the Mountain Maryland Marathon this April. We chatted a bit over the first few miles of the course (he was running the half while I was running the full). Really nice guy. He was telling me about his hopes for qualifying, and it's great to see that he accomplished this.