For distance runners, there is no greater goal than qualifying for the Boston Marathon. With its impressive fan base (most of Boston—including its many college campuses—shuts down for the Monday race day), formidable course (Heartbreak Hill is aptly named) and high qualifying times (a 40-year-old man needed to finish in 3 hours and 15 minutes to qualify for this year’s race), Boston is known by even non-runners as an impressive feat.
As athletes from around the world gather in Boston, some of the fastest and most determined Lake Minnetonka residents will be in their midst. Excelsior resident Krisana Hoff is thrilled that her Twin Cities Marathon finish of 3 hours and 28 minutes allowed her to reserve her race spot in Boston.
A relatively new runner, Hoff ran her first marathon less than a year ago; she ran the 2012 Minneapolis Marathon in 3 hours and 45 minutes, only five minutes away from a Boston qualifying time. Hoff was determined to shave off those extra minutes at the Twin Cities Marathon in October, so she joined a running group organized out of the Chanhassen Life Time Fitness. This group, Hoff believes, allowed her pare 17 minutes from her initial marathon time and qualify for Boston.
“You have to be very dedicated and very motivated,” Hoff says. “It helps to be in a group.”
Particularly in a group like this one, where the camaraderie extends far beyond the training sessions, and the energy and laughter seem to increase with each mile run. Under the guidance of running coach Mike Buenting, the group of about 20 runners trains together three days a week. Some members of the group, like Hoff, have joined within the year while others have been part of the team for years.
At each group practice, there are different distances and paces so the group is accessible to all types of runners. Everyone has someone to run with, which makes running hills or speed workouts more bearable. The group has covered most of the trails in the Minnetonka area, and they almost always end at a restaurant or coffee shop (318 Cafe in Excelsior and YoYo Donuts in Minnetonka are two of their favorite haunts) to celebrate a job well done.
There will be much celebrating April 15 when 10 members of their group, including Hoff and Buenting, will run the Boston Marathon. Buenting can’t wait. “It’s the greatest marathon,” he says. “I love it. It’s amazing.”
This will be Buenting’s fifth consecutive appearance at Boston, and his goal is to run the race 25 times in a row. A talented runner, Buenting’s time qualified him to start right behind the elite runners, and he says it’s a rush to watch them fly through the first few miles of the race. The energy level only increases as the cheering fans make their presence known to the runners.
“There’s crowd support the whole way,” he says. “You can hear the Wellesley [College] girls before you see them.” Wellesley College marks the halfway point of the marathon, and Buenting says that the girls’ cheering makes that particular mile one of his fastest of the race.
“It’s not a ‘one and done,’ ” Buenting says, who is confident that other runners, like Hoff, will want to repeat the Boston experience.
