By David Fleet
Editor
Boston — On April 17, Randy Purol stood in a light rain downtown Hopkinton , Mass. about 25 miles west of Boston. The 50-year-old, Brandon Township resident was assigned to Wave 2/Corral 5 at the start of the 127th Boston Marathon.
“The first ten miles of the race is packed, shoulder-to-shoulder with runners jockeying for position on a two lane road. The course is lined with people just about the whole way, when you get into one of the towns the course goes through it’s sometimes 15 feet deep in loud, often rowdy spectators. Especially near Boston College or the dreaded Heartbreak Hill.”
In his second Boston Marathon, Purol joined 30,090 other marathon runners for the famous 26.2 mile trek.
“By the 20 mile marker it was a steady heavy rain,” he said.
Purol, a veteran marathoner, ran Boston 2021 (3:15:51). The time was good enough to quality for the 2023 race.
“That race was a totally different experience though because there were still COVID protocols,” he said. “The post COVID conditions were more back to normal and noticeably way more people.”
The 2023 Boston marked ten years since two bombs detonated near the finish line killed three and injured hundreds of others.
“I did not notice a lot more security than normal,” he said. “There was a present, but not over the edge. I also noticed several memorials to the bomb victims along the road course.”
Purol finished the race in 3:15:49 and 7,950th overall.
While competing in the Boston Marathon is often the pinnacle for runners, it is just one of a series of accomplishments for Purol.
“I’ve been an avid runner for the last 12 years,”said Purol, a Posen High School graduate. “I played sports in high school and played beer league baseball with friends but I was not a runner. Then, in 2010 my wife Lydia began training for a marathon so to support her I ran along. Well, she ran one marathon and I just kept going. Also, I was working out of town a lot and had a lot of spare time. Not to mention restaurant food was getting the best of me.”
After that time Purol joined up with a good friend Scott in a quest to run a marathon in all 50 states.
“We’ve been trying to run Boston together for about 10 years ago, and we finally both qualified this year,” he said. “It’s always been a goal, I think it’s a goal of every marathon runner. We’ve always had that in the back of our mind.”
‘Right now I have four states, Alaska, Maine, New Mexico and Wyoming to go and Scott has three yet to run,” he said. “We’ve run in probably 30 states together.”
The marathon quest requires some serious daily commitments including joining Clarkston Wolfpack group who run year round, covering a 12 mile loop with times of 8 minute to 11 minute miles. In addition, Purol dons a headlamp early each morning and runs through the Brandon Township back roads on average 50 miles per week.
“My motivation is to stay healthy,” he said. “Now I eat better and the time running gives me a time to purge your mind. It’s mental therapy and resets my day. No earphones or music. Just listen to what’s out there.”