CMU employees place in top half at Boston Marathon

The sun was shinning, the wind was low and the temperature was in the
50s. For many, it was the perfect weather to run 26.2 miles.

The stage was set Monday for two CMU employees, Mary Hill, financial
services assistant controller, and Kennen White, music professor, to
run in the 110th annual Boston Marathon.

Millions of fans, family members and television crews lined the
hilly course to cheer more than 20,000 athletes.

“I was very excited,” Hill said. “All the people there are all
pumped up for the race. They treat the Red Sox and marathon runners
like elite athletes.”

Athletes were bused to the starting line four hours before the
race’s noon start.

“I had to get up at 6 a.m. and try and figure out what to eat and
what clothes to wear,” White said. “I felt good the day of the race. My
legs felt good and my energy felt good.”

White was in the first wave of runners, and said it took him five
minutes to cross the starting line when the gun went off because there
were so many people.

“It’s a funny feeling because you hear the gun and you want to run,”
White said. “So you walk or jog and I was able to run my first mile
pretty close to pace. Then it was just the adrenaline and enthusiasm –
it was trying not to get caught up in that.”

Hill was in the second wave of runners, which started at 12:30.

“I got lucky because I was in the front part of the second wave,”
she said. “It only took a couple minutes to get to the start for me.”

During the race, both runners said they felt good until the end.

“It has the reputation of the Heartbreak Hill and I honestly don’t
know which one it was,” White said. “There was never one moment where
you had a super steep hill or long hill, but the location of them in
the race made it especially hard.”

Beside the course, White said just the size of the race was hard to
deal with.

“I suppose the pressure of having so many people following this
race, and because the support and interest from my students and
colleagues and extended family with this race [was hard],” he said.
“Everyone has heard of the Boston Marathon, so I felt like I had to do
well to not let those people down who have been so supportive.”

White finished 5,081st with a time of three hours, 26 minutes, 14
seconds. It was his second-best time ever, beating his goal of running
the marathon in under three hours and 30 minutes. He also re-qualified
to run the race again.

“I was glad it was over,” he said. “I was very happy to meet my goal
and very excited to finish. Physically I was hurting quite a bit.”

White said he does not know if he will compete again because it
comes at such a busy time in the semester, but he has set other goals
for himself.

“My next goal is to run an ultra marathon or set a new personal
record,” he said.

Hill’s time of three hours, 44 minutes re-qualified her for the race
next year. She finished 9,650th out of 20,000.

“A lot of people were telling me it would take 15 minutes longer
because its such a tougher course but it only took me seven to eight
minutes longer,” Hill said. “I was pretty happy with that.”

Hill said she was happy to have her family there when she finished
the race.

“It was a great feeling of accomplishment,” she said. “My youngest
son, Evan, said, ‘You’re my hero, Mom.’ That just made me feel awesome.
It made the whole thing worthwhile.”

Hill said she does not know if she is going to run in next year’s
marathon.

“This is just one of those things I thought would be a
once-in-a-lifetime experience I didn’t want to pass up,” she said. “Now
I think I am going to be focusing on my kids.”