Two teachers from Pine Tree Elementary School were among the 27,000 athletes who competed in the prestigious Boston Marathon.
Despite the stifling 87-degree heat, Mary Hanna, a sixth-grade teacher, and Mike Hominda, a physical education teacher, completed the grueling 26.2-mile distance. Hanna finished in three hours, 38 minutes and 52 seconds – 13 minutes from first place in her age group. Hominda finished in 4:22:06, good for 12,810 place overall.
Both teachers had spent months preparing for the April 16 Boston race.
To prepare for the race, Hanna competed in the Yakima River Canyon Marathon and Hominda ran back-to-back half-marathons as his final tune-ups.
At Boston, race officials were so concerned about the weather that they offered competitors the opportunity to defer their entries until 2013.
But the Kent teachers were determined to compete.
“I told my wife, Janet, that I was going to run smart, not fast,” Hominda said. “It wasn’t going to be about time, it was more about being in the race, having fun and celebrating the spirit of the marathon.”
Hanna also slowed down to take advantage of the hoses, ice and popsicles that spectators provided.
“Having trained in a cool climate, the heat was a real challenge to deal with,” she said.
Hominda added: “This is by far the most supportive marathon I’ve ever run,” he said. “I will have to come back next year just to run under more normal circumstances.”
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