For Ohio Dominican's Benedict, Boston Marathon Represents 'Ultimate Goal'

Release courtesy of Scott Miles, Sports Information Director, Ohio Dominican University

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Paul Benedict had one goal in his mind. To reach that goal, though, he needed the support of the group that he is tasked to lead.

Benedict, the Ohio Dominican track and field and cross country head coach, was nearing the finish line at the Columbus Marathon. Six miles to the end, and if he stayed on pace, he would achieve the pinnacle of every distance runner: the chance to compete in the Boston Marathon.

And there, over those final six miles, the last 31,800 feet, before he could think of faltering, Benedict was joined on the course by members of the ODU cross country teams, who helped him stay on track.

"Without them, I probably wouldn't have been able to do it," Benedict said.

Three hours and 10 minutes. That was the amount of time that Benedict had to traverse the 26-mile course, and he had it planned almost to the second.

"I kept looking at my watch, knowing exactly what I needed to do," he said. "The last two miles were nerve-wracking. I looked at my watch just about every second in the last mile."

And when Benedict hit the finish line, in a time of 3:09.30, he was hit by a "surreal feeling", surrounded by his cross country teams and his dad Bruce, who is now an assistant coach at ODU.

"Every marathoner's ultimate goal is to qualify for Boston," Benedict said. "It was one of the best feelings in my career, and it was emotional because my dad and the team were there."

The Boston Marathon takes place Monday, April 18 and will be the culmination of a long journey for Benedict, who began distance running in his youth with the encouragement of his father.

"Growing up, my parents would give my brother and I a chores list, and my dad would put 'do the dishes, vacuum, run a mile and eat an apple.'" Benedict said. "So at the time we thought we'd have to run a mile before we could go out and play. That's how it got started."

Benedict kept on running through middle school and high school and developed an addiction for the sport. In high school, he joined the swimming team to help stay in shape and also to further test his endurance and stamina.

The commitment paid off as Benedict continued his career in college as a member of the Muskingum College track and cross country teams.  After college, looking for a way to continue running competitively, Benedict started competing in marathons, triathlons and Ironman's.

"I didn't think I'd like running in marathons, but I did my first one in 2005 and I got addicted," he said. "The first couple, my goal was just to finish.

"I started the triathlon thing after college. It was more of an outlet for me since I had time to do it and I had the swimming background down. I started doing the sprint triathlons, which is the shorter distances, and did an Ironman in Michigan. The goal for that is just to finish without collapsing. And that helped train for the marathon because when you bike and swim it's easier on your joints. Just like the marathon, once you do it once, it's addicting and hard to stop."

Benedict ran in the Columbus Marathon five times before qualifying for the Boston Marathon, where he will be one of 25,000 athletes worldwide to hit the course. He began his training cycle four months ago, running for over an hour per day, longer when his schedule allows. On weekends, he will run for up to two and a half hours. Though an Achilles injury has slowed him and forced him to adjust his training, it hasn't affected his motivation.

"I wake up wanting to run and go to sleep wanting to run," he said.

Benedict - who has been a spectator at the Marathon before and has spoken with several who have completed it – will head out to Boston on Saturday to complete his preparations. He said he doesn't have a goal in mind – "I'm just happy to run it," he said with a smile – but is thankful for the encouragement he has received thus far, particularly from the two teams that he coaches.

"The teams enjoys it," Benedict said. "They definitely support me in this process, just like I support them in their training. When I qualified, one of the girls was like, 'Oh wow, you are actually legit.' The support is overwhelming."