Wichitan Jake Thomas didn’t have to get up early and run in the Boston Marathon Monday, the 122nd running of the world-famous event.
But Patriot’s Day and the marathon always bring back some memories to Thomas, who competed in the 1992 Boston Marathon.
Every year since then the memories come flooding back for Thomas. That he accomplished the feat at age 48, finishing in three hours and 28 minutes, was impressive. But the experience of marathon running also had let Thomas know his body didn’t want to keep doing that forever.
Recently Thomas shared some of his memories from that stage of his life, when he was featured in Runner’s World and then flown up to Boston for the event by CBS Channel 6.
“Nearly everybody there had some help,” Thomas said. “Some runners were sponsored by their city council.”
He can recall the experience and details easily. The runner’s high he would get 10-12 miles into a running season, whether in competition or not. And that day in Boston, conquering Heartbreak Hill.
“I did something not a lot of runners do," Thomas said. "When I crossed that finish line in downtown Boston I kneeled down on my knees and kissed the finish line.
“There’s about 100,000 people at the finish line and when they saw me do that they stood up and cheered. It took about 30 seconds off my time but I didn’t care, I just wanted to do it.”
Thomas remembers being wrapped up in “aluminum foil to keep your body warm. I wanted to stay and see the runners finish. It gave me time to talk to other runners and what they’d experienced.”
Thomas had much simpler goals when he first began running with a purpose in Lakeside City. Lose a little weight and get his body in better shape.
“I wanted to get off alcohol and drugs and that inspired me to start running,” Thomas said. “My wife, at the time, started running with me. We would run to the highway and back. And then there’s this little loop you could take. Then I started running to Lakeside West and back.”
When his wife had decided that was far enough she encouraged Thomas to keep going. Soon he ran to Jolly. Before going to Dallas to run in a marathon at White Rock Lake he decided he needed to go further.
“To see if I could make the whole 26 miles I ran to Archer City and made it without walking,” Thomas recalled. “I made it in about five hours, which is not the time I had in Boston but that was really the first time I ran 25 miles.”
And with running he figured out getting a “high” wasn’t a bad thing.
“When I started I was just thinking I’ll run and quit doing drugs and alcohol and get in better shape,” Thomas said. “But once I hit that 10 or 12-mile mark I started noticing something and I didn’t know it but the endorphins were releasing into my body. That’s a runner's high. When I figured out how I could get high naturally instead of on drugs that really got me hooked.
“Every time I’d get out and run I’d think I got to get to that 10- or 12-mile mark. You get to this euphoric state and you feel like you could run for 100 miles. Any marathon runner will tell you about that, it’s an amazing feeling.”
Thomas couldn’t just cue up his smartphone for tips on how to run long distances. He said it’s much different than even distance runners in track who run one or two miles. They get ready for a closing “kick.” But steady wins the marathons or at least survives them.
“I’d see these track stars would come out and run and start kicking and raising their arms, but you really sort of skate along, you have your arms to your side,” Thomas said. “You have to stay in an aerobic state. That means you have to run at a pace you’re comfortable with.
"If you start breathing real heavy or gasping for air, that's another signal. There’s a scientific method to it and you have to know what you’re doing. If you’re running with another person and you can’t carry on a conversation then you’re pushing your body and you’re not going to make 26 miles.”
Thomas read up on the subject and became an expert. He shared tips in the magazine Runner’s World. Thomas knew there’d be an expense, both financially and on his body, to keep pushing that hard or return to Boston. But he’s happy for the life changes he made running to get in shape that led to a memorable experience on Patriot’s Day.
And it did accomplish the goal as Thomas said he dropped from 190 pounds before the running to 156 when he ran Boston.
“The Newton Hill is what separates the men from the boys and is about 20 miles into the race,” Thomas said. “Heartbreak Hill is a steep, steep sucker. You’re thinking I don’t know if I can do this. When you get there and think I haven’t got far to go. I saw people throw up. They have people out there to hand you water bottles.”
And Thomas remembers the marathon crowd excited to help even a Texan far from home.
“At first I thought I might have bit off more than I could chew,” Thomas said. “I had this Cowtown shirt on and they would yell, hey Cowtown. My opinion of people in that part of the country was that they were not so friendly. These people aren’t going to like me from Texas and they might grab me and throw me off the track. That wasn’t the case they were very supportive. They’re off work and BBQ-ing and drinking.”
There have been 26 marathons since Thomas kissed that finish line. But not a single Patriot’s Day where the memories haven’t come flooding back from a time where he simply decided to run to the highway and back to lose a little bit of his gut. He found running 26 miles took guts and a lot of strategy.