26 miles in his shoes

Photo courtesy of Kevin Alfano

KEVIN ALFANO POSES WITH HIS WIFE, LEEANN AND THEIR TWO DAUGHTERS ELLA, 6, AND HANNAH, 10, AFTER RUNNING SEATTLE’S ROCK AND ROLL MARATHON LAST JUNE. Alfano’s finishing time of three hours and 12 minutes allowed him to qualify for the Boston Marathon this month.

While others are resting on Saturday morning after a hectic workweek, Kevin Alfano and his running mates are up at 6 a.m. running upwards of 22 miles. It is cold and he is tired, but the Endeavor Intermediate School principal understands that this training will push him one step closer to his main event – the Boston Marathon.

“It’s like the Super Bowl of running,” Alfano said.

At 114 years, the annual Boston Marathon is the oldest marathon race in the country. Alfano was 34 years old the first time he qualified for the Boston Marathon in 2005. This time around, Alfano competed with the 35-39 year olds during the race April 17-18. He qualified for Boston during the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon last June.

“It’s kind of humbling,” he said. “I love golf and the Masters, but I could never go golf with the pros. In running you can run the same race, at the same time, with the elite guys.”

This year, organizers estimated that approximately 500,000 spectators lined the 26.2-mile course. More than 25,000 runners from around the world compete annually.

“It’s kind of a celebration,” Alfano said. “People work hard in other marathons to get to Boston and when they do, they know they are going to enjoy it. It’s a pretty festive day.”

Marathons are the ultimate test of a runner’s mental, physical and emotional endurance. Alfano believes a person has to be in the right spot in their lives to take on the challenge. He does not think he could have taken on this sort of physical challenge if he was in his 20s or even early 30s.

“I was a brand-new teacher, a brand-new husband, a brand-new father,” he said. “I was mentally just trying to figure out everything. The endurance side of it would have been difficult.”

Running came naturally to Alfano, who grew up active in sports. As a teacher at Fife High School and head basketball coach, he kept fit with his team by running with them during practices. Alfano took up running as a mode of exercise and a way to connect with old friends, after he transitioned to administration in 2003 and the option to coach was no longer possible. What started as a simple after-school jog has spiraled into dozens of 5K runs, several marathons and even a few ultra-marathons (50-100 miles).

“I had never run anything,” Alfano said. “So, I just started training, took to it and haven’t stopped.”

Often the thrill of pushing the human body to the limit is a compelling component of the marathon runner’s world. Their bodies take a pummeling during training and after the race. Alfano said he experiences muscle fatigue, cramping and tendonitis. Other common maladies have included losing toenails, blisters and bleeding. But for this runner, the positives, such as stress relief, self-reflection and the chance to compete in a prestigious race with the world’s top runners, outweigh these minor inconveniences.

“It’s the kind of thing that’s kept me going,” Alfano said. “Finishing a marathon is probably one of the  most mentally and emotionally draining things. There’s something that happens after the 20th mile. You just don’t know what your body or your mind is going to do.”

Commenting rules