Mayo — Forty-eight year-old Mayo resident and contestant number 6857 Jack Howdeshell recently ran the 116th Boston Marathon on April 16, coming across the finish line at 4 hours, 40 minutes and one second, and placing 17,379. A total of 26,656 runners participated in the race, which was a total of 26 miles. The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world's most prestigious road racing events.

“Like most people who are not lifelong runners, my journey began as a method to lose some extra weight,” said Howdeshell. “Actually about 100 pounds of extra weight.”

In 2007, Howdeshell said he weighed 265 and 10 months later he had dropped down to 185. That’s when he started running a few local 5K races just for fun.  

“After taking most of the winter off, I resumed running in the spring of 2008 and became a little more serious about my training and continued to focus on my weight loss,” he said.

Later that year he decided to run a marathon and signed up for the Tallahassee Marathon run in February 2009 with a goal of finishing the 26.2 mile race in less than four hours.

“As my training progressed and the race neared, I reset my goal for a sub 3:45 finish, Howdeshell said. “I was able to best that time and really had no further thoughts of another race at that distance.”

With so much training involved and minimal rewards, Howdeshell almost gave up on running any more marathons, until thoughts of maybe running the Boston Marathon began to surface.

The Boston Marathon, however, requires participants to meet stringent qualifying times based on age and gender and Howdeshell knew he’d have to trim 14 minutes off his previous efforts.

He ran the Philadelphia Marathon and came in with a good qualifying time, but when he went to register for the Boston Marathon it was too late. There were no more available spots left.

“Qualifying times for Boston remain valid for an 18-month period, so I could register for the 2011 race based on this effort,” he said.

Meanwhile, his desire to run the Boston Marathon began to wane, although, he continued to test his fitness level by running in other races on a limited basis.

“I found it more fulfilling to document the athletic achievements of others with my photography, than the time needed to really improve my own skills,” he said.

In September 2011 the bug hit him again as he read the registration guidelines for the 2012 Boston Marathon. Around the same time he received notice of his high school 30 year reunion on a cruise.

“I quickly decided that I would celebrate my 30 year class reunion in Boston, as opposed to the Caribbean,” he said.

It didn’t take long after he registered to find out he was going to be a participant in the Boston Marathon, but life got in the way, he said, and other personal and professional desires took precedence over proper training for the event.

“I determined that this run at Boston would be just for the experience,” he said. “Little did I know that condition that only a year earlier produced the fastest marathon ever run, would be drastically different for the 116th running of the oldest marathon in the world.”

Howdeshell arrived in Boston several days prior to the Patriot's Day event and found folks talking about the rising temperatures forecast for race day. Officials advised runners to exercise extreme caution and practice serious hydration measures.  

By mid-weekend leading up to the Monday race, the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) allowed an unprecedented measure of offering deferments for this year's race to encourage those not at the top of their game to bypass the extreme conditions expected, Howdeshell said.  They also adopted the new slogan, "This is not a race, it's an experience."

“On race morning I looked out the hotel room window and for as far as I could see was a line of buses that would shuttle the 20 plus thousand runners to the start line over 26 miles away,” said Howdeshell.

Once the buses shuttled the runners over to the athlete's village in Hopkinton, the action heated up.

“Following a brief introduction of the elite runners and the National Anthem, the 116th running of the Boston Marathon was underway,” said Howdeshell. “With several news helicopters overhead and even more fixed wing aircraft circling the field, we left the tiny town of Hopkinton.”

Runners were broken up into three waves consisting of nine corrals in each.  Howdeshell was in the seventh corral in the first wave and began his run at 10 a.m.

“I had been told by those who had run this race before, the crowd support and spectators were unbelievable,” he said. “The best description of the scene is like the biggest tailgate party on any major university campus on game day, except this one snakes on for over 26 miles.”

Spectators and support personnel were on hand along the route to provide the runners with necessary hydration.

“The most touching scene were the children standing along the course with outstretched hands wanting to high-five the passing runners, or offering tiny hands full of ice, popcicles or cups of water,” said Howdeshell. “The children also held water hoses out for runners to cool off and water soaked towels and sponges. There is no way the runners could ever repay the fans for their efforts and support, but it will always be remembered.”

Howdeshell said he maintained his pedestrian pace to overcome the strong desire to run with the pack.

“This was accomplished by taking the time to acknowledge every outstretched tiny hand and recognizing the law enforcement and military personnel who also supported the runners along the entire route,” he said.

Nearly five hours worth of experiencing new sights and sounds, and the ever-increasing noise level as the race traveled through Wellesley College's scream tunnel were indescribable, he said.

“The students of Boston College were as fired up as if their own team was playing in the BCS Championship,” he went on.

The only thing that surpassed that excitement, Howdeshell said, was when the runners entered the city of Boston.  

“The crowds pressed into the roadway and were 20 deep in spots and lined the windows and rooftops in the final miles,” he said. “The final turn on Boylston Street when the runners can finally view the overhead photographer's bridge that marks the finish line is mostly a blur.  If one ever wanted to feel a hero's welcome or running out the tunnel of a major sporting venue, this is as close as one can get.”

Once across the finish line Howdeshell was expecting the usual cramps and aches that accompany a tough effort, but because of his reduced pace, he said he was no worse for wear.  

“I would not be a statistic for the medic tents or those who were hospitalized,” he said.  

Howdeshell said one day he hopes to challenge the course again with his best effort, but this year was all about the experience.

“Surprisingly, I'm okay with that,” he said. “Letting, willingly or not, nearly 10,000 runners pass me from my original starting spot isn't the most enduring thing, but they only remember who won anyway, not the guy who finished in second or 17,000 plus place.”