By David Fleet
Editor
The mantra “Boston Strong,” took on a new meaning last Monday.
“Not one second of the day was it not raining or windy,” said Trina Jolley, 49, a Goodrich resident and 1986 Brandon High School graduate. “It was supposed to be in the 40s but felt like the 20s due to the wind. I was wet, cold and even muddy—I can’t wait to go back to the Boston Marathon next year.”
Jolley was one of about 30,000 runners in the 122nd Boston Marathon on April 16. The world’s oldest annual marathon attracts some of the top runners in the world on the 26 mile, 385 yard roadway through historic Boston area neighborhoods. The epic race was hampered this year by inclement weather.
Jolley completed the race in 4:47:32.
“It was my worst time of the 11 marathons I’ve run,” she said. “It was the worst weather too. The route is a straight line from Hopkinton to Boston the whole race was into the wind. There were so many hills too, it’s a tough course, it’s an incline from beginning to end. Then there’s Heartbreak Hill at the 20 mile mark— it’s a half mile long. It feels like a mile when you’re trying to get up it.”
The Boston Marathon fans were unreal, she said.
“Every city we went through the fans were out there—in the rain and wind,” she said. “It’s very true what they say about Boston Marathon Fans.”
Jolley qualified for Boston on Oct. 1, 2016 with a time of 3:41:45 at St George Marathon, in Utah.
“I definitely believe training during our (Michigan) winters helped,” said Jolley who does not run everyday but logs about 40-42 miles a week. “However I don’t think anyone could prepare for the type of winds we had to deal with on top of the cold pouring rain.”

“The fact that the route to Boston was running against 40 mph wind gusts the entire 26.2 Miles in freezing cold rain made this race incredibly challenging.”
Jolley said other running were challenged
“There were Kenyans and several elite runners that dropped out of the race during the race,” she said. “ Hypothermia was the number one concern and unfortunately there were thousands of runners, finishers and non-finishers that had to be treated by medical personnel.”
There were 3,000 runners who decided not to race.
“I’m thrilled that our Michigan girl Desiree Linden won,” she said. “I thought it was going to be (American) Shalane Flanagan who won last years NYC Marathon. What an accomplishment and inspiration for all distance runners. To hear her story how she “almost” dropped out because of the weather and not feeling well but decided to stick it out is an incredible example of mental toughness and drive. You don’t have to run an elites pace to feel those same emotions. The beauty of running is you are running against yourself. My goal is always to beat my last time and it may not happen in every race but it certainly gives me the motivation to train smarter for the next race.”