Two from CMU will run in Boston Marathon
Crowds will line a 26.2-mile course in Boston Monday just as they have the past 109 years.
The families of two Central Michigan University employees will be among them.
Mary Hill, financial information systems director, and Kennen White, music professor, will be two of the 20,000 marathon runners taking part in the 110th Boston Marathon.
“It’s a goal for runners to run it at least once,” White said. “My goal was to qualify and get there and run it for the fun of it.”
The marathon, which takes place on Patriot’s Day, will steer runners downhill, uphill and through six villages before reaching Boston.
White and Hill had to qualify in another marathon to be eligible for Boston.
White qualified in his fourth marathon, the Bayshore Marathon in Traverse City, during Memorial Day weekend last year with a time of 3:20:00.
Hill ran her first marathon in October 2004 in Columbus, Ohio, and qualified with a time of 3 hours, 26 minutes and 47 seconds.
“It was my goal for my 40th birthday and when I ran that (Columbus), my time was good enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon,” she said. “My friends told me I had to do it.”
Even though they work minutes away from each other on campus, Hill did not know White was participating Monday.
“I’m glad to hear someone else from Mount Pleasant is running,” she said. “There is a Web site where you can look at residents from Michigan who are participating, but he must have spelled Mount Pleasant differently than I did.”
Hill has been running since high school, when she started running with her softball coach. White started running in 2002, near his 40th birthday, when he said he realized he was overweight and out of shape.
“I had no intention to make much out of it,” he said. “I found it more interesting to set goals, and after a while it made sense to run in races to keep me motivated. The next thing I knew, someone said, ‘you should run a marathon.’ So I did.”
Hill said she typically runs 20 to 24 miles during the week, and works up to 14 miles on the weekend to practice for Boston. White said he runs 45 miles every week and trains with members of the Mount Pleasant Striders.
Although White doesn’t expect to win, he said he hopes to have a good strong race, finishing somewhere in the middle of his age group with a time of 3:30:00.
Hill said if she runs the race in under 3:50, she’ll be happy.
“I hope my husband and sons are proud of me when I get done,” she said.
Outdoor Life Network (OLN) will broadcast the race live from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and will rebroadcast it later from 5 to 7 p.m.
The runners’ progress can be tracked by visiting www.baa.org. White’s bib number is 7381 and Hill’s is 12957.
