Joe Henderson's Marathon Team had run five previous races. Many of those runners had re-enlisted, some repeatedly, but their latest experience was different from all others.
"This was the first time we've stayed home for a race," says Henderson, who coaches the Team that the Eugene Running Company co- sponsors. "Before, we'd gone to Newport, Portland and Napa Valley. There we'd felt like special guests at someone else's party. Here, we were more like the hosts, inviting visitors to our home course."
The JHMT trains on much of the Eugene Marathon route. Now the runners could avoid the costs and stresses of travel.
This combination, plus the option of a half-marathon that previous target races hadn't offered, made the latest round of training extra- attractive. The Sunday group grew to 60-plus (from its previous limit of 40), and spun off a second Running Company Team of equal size that trained on Saturdays.
Highlights from the latest JHMT:
- Three runners represented us at the Boston Marathon. Sarah McCarthy, Stefanie Rimel and Doug Tucker ran there two weeks before the Eugene race, then helped pace our runners here.
- Two runners qualified for Boston 2008 here. Lyda Schimmer ran 3:29 and Cadie Dornath, 3:34.
- Tim Cole won his age group in 3:13. The UO student was our youngest runner at 19.
- Nineteen of our 34 marathoners with previous experience at this distance set personal records. Michelle Martin improved the most, 56 minutes.
- Sixty JHMT runners finished the Eugene Marathon or Half. "This is a record we won't try to break with our next Team," Henderson says.
"For Portland we'll return to the old 40-runner limit since this is a marathon-only event."
Eugene Marathon 2007