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Sheppard officer finishes strong in Boston Marathon

  • Published
  • By John Ingle
  • 80th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs officer
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  A captain assigned to Sheppard Air Force Base finished in the top 2 percent of all runners in the 112th running of the Boston Marathon April 21. 

Capt. David Max, an instructor pilot at the 80th Operations Support Squadron, finished the 26.2-mile run in 2:43:50 -- a time that put him 249th out a total of more than 23,000 competitors in the famous race.

The winner of the event, Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya, finished in 2:07:45.

Although the captain narrowly missed accomplishing his personal goal of breaking the 2:40 mark, he said he was pleased with his effort. It was his first time competing in the Boston Marathon, and he said he won't make the same mistakes the next time.

An example was a portion of the course 20.5 miles into the race. It was a grueling stretch of road, he said, called Heartbreak Hill. The hill rises a half-mile, which, accompanied by the fact that those who make it to that point in the race have already run more than 20 miles, is one of the most challenging portions of the course.

"The more I think about it, it was really neat being part of it," he said. "It's almost like the Masters in golf, the Daytona in (car) racing and the Super Bowl."

Captain Max, a runner since he was a freshman in high school, runs about 50 to 60 miles per week on average. He said he began increasing his mileage in preparation for the marathon about five months ago, including four runs a week of more than 20 miles.

To qualify for the Boston Marathon, the captain had to complete a marathon in a time of 3:10:00 or less. He did that when he completed the Houston Marathon in about 2:43:00, he said.

But Captain Max's time did more than just qualify him for the Boston run. It also put him toward the front of the line of participants as the race began.

"I was lucky in that my qualifying time put me in the first 300 people," he said. "I could at least see the starting line."

The captain also excelled in the Air Force Marathon as a member of a team from Sheppard, finishing in first place Sept. 15 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.