2008 Woodie Awards
PSUC student finishes 226th in Boston Marathon
Tony Casey
Issue date: 4/25/08 Section: Sports
Originally published: 4/24/08 at 4:10 PM EST
Last update: 4/24/08 at 5:08 PM EST
You've heard about four-time Boston Marathon winner "Boston Billy" Rodgers, but have you heard of Plattsburgh State's own "Boston Bobby" Asher?
Asher, a senior hotel management major, ran Monday's grueling 26.2 mile Boston Marathon in 2 hours, 43 minutes, and 3 seconds to place an amazing 226th out of 21,693 runners.
This marathon, the most famous in the world, is known to be one of the toughest races on the planet, but Asher was well-prepared and was able to shake off the pressure of competing at such a venue.
"There wasn't an inch of the course that wasn't packed with spectators," Asher said. "It just sort of made it a fun run. Everyone was in it together."
The distance runner, who averaged a six minute, 13 second mile pace over the entire race, recounted how he felt throughout the race. He described the starting line as a bunch of people waiting in line for a rollercoaster.
When he hit the half-way point, he remembers grabbing a banana from a kid, without trying to slow down and could tell it made his day.
During the second half Asher ran incredibly well. This is, considering its reputation of being one of the hardest, hilly second halves of a marathon, took only 1 hour, 21 minutes and 32 seconds to get through.
Asher's coach and Cardinal Head Track and Field Coach John Lynch noted this after finding out how his athlete did.
"His first half of the marathon and the second half of the marathon were exactly the same time," Lynch said. "Anyone who knows Boston knows how incredibly hard that is as the second half of the course is harder and as the day went on it got hotter."
When Asher got to the finish line he said was feeling the heat and remembers being pestered by racing aides.
"You have to walk a half mile to get your clothing bag off the bus," Asher said. "It was more painful than the race. There were medical professionals every like five feet cutting in front of you asking you if you were OK," Asher said. "Hmm, I just ran 26.2 miles, how am I supposed to feel?"
Asher, a senior hotel management major, ran Monday's grueling 26.2 mile Boston Marathon in 2 hours, 43 minutes, and 3 seconds to place an amazing 226th out of 21,693 runners.
This marathon, the most famous in the world, is known to be one of the toughest races on the planet, but Asher was well-prepared and was able to shake off the pressure of competing at such a venue.
"There wasn't an inch of the course that wasn't packed with spectators," Asher said. "It just sort of made it a fun run. Everyone was in it together."
The distance runner, who averaged a six minute, 13 second mile pace over the entire race, recounted how he felt throughout the race. He described the starting line as a bunch of people waiting in line for a rollercoaster.
When he hit the half-way point, he remembers grabbing a banana from a kid, without trying to slow down and could tell it made his day.
During the second half Asher ran incredibly well. This is, considering its reputation of being one of the hardest, hilly second halves of a marathon, took only 1 hour, 21 minutes and 32 seconds to get through.
Asher's coach and Cardinal Head Track and Field Coach John Lynch noted this after finding out how his athlete did.
"His first half of the marathon and the second half of the marathon were exactly the same time," Lynch said. "Anyone who knows Boston knows how incredibly hard that is as the second half of the course is harder and as the day went on it got hotter."
When Asher got to the finish line he said was feeling the heat and remembers being pestered by racing aides.
"You have to walk a half mile to get your clothing bag off the bus," Asher said. "It was more painful than the race. There were medical professionals every like five feet cutting in front of you asking you if you were OK," Asher said. "Hmm, I just ran 26.2 miles, how am I supposed to feel?"
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