Rose Competes in First Boston Marathon, Inspired by Others

BOSTON, MASS – Seeley Lake resident Loren Rose participated in the 121st Boston Marathon April 17. While he finished 12 minutes slower than he had hoped, Rose said nothing compared to the overall experience. He is one of only a few Seeley Lake residents and part-timers who have competed in the marathon.

Rose has run six marathons prior to running the Boston: three Missoula Marathons, two Portland Marathons and the Prague Marathon.

After running the Prague Marathon in 2014, Rose's wife Pam googled the top 10 marathons in the United States. Pam liked the Walt Disney World Marathon in Florida but Rose ruled it out because of the heat and humidity. Rose was intrigued by the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C. since his son was a Marine but the Boston Marathon won.

"We settled on the Boston Marathon because it is the marathon in the entire world," said Rose.

To qualify for the Boston Marathon, Rose needed to run a 3:55:00 marathon for his age group. Rose qualified at the Missoula Marathon last July finishing in 3:39:45.

When he was accepted for the Boston, Rose knew that a mid-April marathon would be a challenge because of training through the winter and it would not be conducive to a good time. Compounded with the tough training conditions in Seeley Lake this winter, Rose fought a nasty head cold and cough since late March.

Rose was impressed with the logistics coordination from the beginning. He confirmed his registration Saturday. Rose said there were three floors at the Hilton devoted to bib and packet pick-up.

"It was just a crush of people," said Rose. "They knew it was going to be hot because when I picked up my bib, they were already telling [people] that it was going to be hot and be sure to be plenty hydrated when [boarding] the bus, take water and drink plenty of water."

More than 30,000 runners were all bused to the start area. Pam read online that there were 10,000 volunteers equaling nearly three volunteers per racer.

Rose rode the bus out to the start with a female Korean doctor who grew up in New Jersey. She worked as a teen addiction counselor in Helena for four years and had run the Snow Joke. She is now doing her residency in San Francisco, Calif. in teen addiction. She had qualified for the marathon in Berlin.

"You just run across stories like that. You realize how small of a world it is. She knew the quilt store and where the mill was," said Rose.

The heat was the biggest challenge for Rose.

"We haven't seen 60 [degrees Fahrenheit (ºF) this year]. It was 84ºF on Sunday and the race was Monday. When the Uber driver picked me up at 7 a.m. [on Monday] it was 68ºF already. My group didn't start until 10:50 a.m. It was just blazing hot," said Rose who estimated it was 90ºF on the pavement.

Rose said that he staged in the high school field that was lined with port-a-potties.

"I was there maybe a little more than an hour. I was in line to go to a porta-pottie the whole time," said Rose. "Then you had to walk eight-tenths of a mile just to get to the start area. Then you get to your start area and you stand and wait for everyone behind you to get there and get impatient and hot. No one had a chance to warm up or stretch."

Based on his qualifying time he was in the third wave out of four. In each wave, there were eight corrals; Rose was in the fifth corral.

"They've got it narrowed down to where everyone that is running with you qualified just about at the same time you did. The theory is that everyone is just going to go and you aren't going to have any hiccups," said Rose. "No one started slow because you had to go with the herd or you are going to get run over. For the first three miles you are running shoulder-to-shoulder and trying not to trip someone and trying not to get tripped. You are just kind of going as fast as everyone is going."

Rose said he could not drink enough water and Gatorade to stay hydrated. His right quadriceps muscle cramped up 12 miles into the race and his left quad cramped at mile 18.

"It just got to be a struggle. I had to stop and walk. I never did stop to stretch them out but I walked until I felt like I could run again. Then you start running and you aren't near as fast as you were before you stopped," said Rose and laughed.

Rose had to walk three times. He said once he hit the 40-kilometer mark he knew he only had 1.6 miles left in the race.

"You just have to do it. So, I did it," said Rose.

Rose was hoping to finish in 3:50 minutes. He crossed the finish line in 4:02:24.

"I was not happy with my time," said Rose.

However, his outlook changed after he received the official results placing him 405 out of 1043 in his age group.

"So top 40 percent. I'll be 64 the end of June so I'm in the top end of the age group. Andrew, my analytical son, said, 'Dad, you were in the top 38 percent of the most elite 60-64-year-olds in the world. What are you complaining about,'" said Rose. "I was seven minutes over the qualifying time and I was in the top 40 percent. It tells you that the conditions weren't very good."

Rose was so appreciative for everyone who supported him during and after the race.

Rose said there were several reasons this year was memorable. This year marked the 50-year anniversary of the first woman Kathrine Switzer who competed in the Boston Marathon. Switzer signed up with her boyfriend using her initials and was assigned bib number 261. The race director attempted to tackle her during the race but her boyfriend tackled him and she finished the race. Switzer completed the marathon again this year and her bib number was retired.

"Now there are more ladies than men that run it," said Rose.

Rose said that he saw two of the three military amputees that ran the marathon. He said he ran with a service man that was blind with three escorts and a woman who was blind.

"Just really inspirational stuff," said Rose. "And the people! There were literally people [from buildings to the street] for 26.2 miles. That last mile was deafening. You can't image what it sounded like."

Rose also said the camaraderie was unbelievable. Pam watched people collapse in front of her and others carry them to the finish line.

Rose said he was certain he would never run another marathon but the day he finished something convinced him that he could do better next time.

"The first part of it there is a fair amount of it downhill. I know I could have run better having that experience," said Rose who ran the Missoula Marathon 30 minutes faster and the Portland Marathon 20 minutes faster the second time because he knew the course and what to expect. "There's something that is nagging at me that I could do better,"

Rose said he has to qualify every year and is still interested in running the Marine Corps Marathon.

"I would like to run the Marine Corps Marathon since Andrew was a Marine," said Rose. "There is something about running through Arlington and finishing at Iwo Jima Memorial that gives you goose bumps just being there and to be a part of that. The military presence in all branches is pretty phenomenal."

Rose told his children and in-laws that he would pay their way if they qualified for the 2019 Boston Marathon. "I don't think I have to be too worried because of the qualifying times," said Rose.

However, seeing Rose on the course again as a youngster in the 65-69 age group would not be a surprise.

Rose was not the only area competitor this year. John Duffield, part-time Big Sky Lake resident, finished in 3:42:10 which placed him third in the 70-74 age group.