Running Boston

Editor's note: Charlie Funk of Iowa City is president and CEO of Iowa City based MidWestOne Financial Group and a member of The Gazette Company board of directors. Monday will mark his fourth Boston Marathon.

By Charlie Funk, community contributor

'Dad, you're such a tool!”

So said our youngest daughter, Emily, at the supper table one evening in the spring of 2006. Emily's application for admission to Boston College had just been accepted and this prompted me to make a commitment I'd long considered. I had decided to run the Des Moines Marathon that fall. What had drawn Emily's disdain, however, was my rather naive statement that I planned to 'sign up for the Boston Marathon.”

Of course, you do not sign up for the world's oldest annual marathon. You qualify, and when I saw the qualifying standard for my age, I knew this would be a tall task.

Two friends, Gene Wandling and Bill Pringle, joined me in training that summer. We completed our training and were at the start line in Des Moines on a gray morning in October. I crossed the finish line three hours and 35 minutes later with a Boston qualifying time.

Wandling qualified a year later and we were accepted as runners in the 2008 Boston Marathon. You have to visit Massachusetts on Patriots' Day to realize what an impressive holiday it is. We were amazed as we began our run and saw spectators lined up, often with their families, for much of the 26.2 miles.

Boston is a tough course for several reasons. The first half of the race is gently downhill. Thus, with all of the adrenaline, you tend to run faster than you should in the first half of the race. This frequently comes back to haunt runners at about mile 16 when the 'hills of Newton” begin.

Heartbreak Hill is the last hill of Newton and I've always looked for two things as I am running the hill. Near the top is a large flag that simply says '20.8” (mile marker). As the runner approaches the top of the long hill, the spires of Boston College come into view. When I see the spires, I know the hills are behind me and the last five miles of the race are downhill.

At mile 12 is Wellesley College with hundreds of coeds lining the route. You hear the din from Wellesley before you see the students. They are raucous and with all sorts of signs - my all-time favorite is 'Kiss me - I won't tell your wife.” You always can see more than a few runners embracing the coeds at Wellesley.

Boston College comes at mile 21. The BC students are out in force and they, too, are raucous, loud and very encouraging. Keep in mind that BC comes just after the four hills of Newton and runners very much need to hear that encouragement and cheering.

Wandling and I crossed the finish line together, three hours and 50 minutes after starting. A photo still sits in my office of Wandling and I crossing the finish line together, joining hands and arms held high above our heads with an American flag in the background.

Pringle was there in 2009 and the three of us ran it together along with Emily, who had gotten a student exemption to enter the race. Wandling, Emily and I ran it again in 2010.

And since? I have not been able to qualify. I've noticed my running times slowing at a faster rate than Boston qualifying times adjust for older age groups. Last May 10, just after turning 60, I drove to Fargo to run the Fargo Marathon (flat and cool) with the express purpose of qualifying - and I did it.

On Monday, Pringle and I will be running together in the 119th Boston Marathon. This will be my 13th marathon since the 'tool” comment. And perhaps my last. Age takes its toll and the intense marathon 18-week training program gets more difficult each year. What used to be eight-minute miles are now nine-minute miles. What I know for sure is I've found two great running partners and there still will be long Sunday runs as we talk about politics, sports, families and life. There will still be scrambled eggs and pancakes afterward at Mid-Town Cafe.

I plan to enjoy the heck out of these 26.2 miles. And Pringle and I will go forth remembering a familiar credo among runners: You watch the World Cup. You watch the World Series. You watch the Super Bowl. But you run Boston.