To follow up on the racing action from the 2015 Hartford Marathon, we reached out to several of the New England’s Finest athletes that we included in our own preview coverage to see how things went for them. Here’s what we got (results in parentheses):
Matt Pelletier (2nd, 2:17:57): “Here’s my quote: Hampton Rocked!”
Jerry Faulkner (4th, 2:21:52): “I came out to run my race and ended up with a four-minute PB. Came from eighth and moved all the way up to fourth.”
Will Sanders (2:56:08): “I was on track to PR until mile 15. Shortly after that my hamstring tightened up and I pretty much had to jog/walk the last 8 miles. Didn’t want to risk turning it into a significant injury. To say I’m disappointed in my race would be an understatement.”
Tyler Andrews (3rd, 2:19:36): “I did what I wanted to do in this race and got a great sense of where my fitness is right now. I also always like to point out that I ran the Hartford Half Marathon in 2009 (6 years ago to the day of this year’s race) and ran 1’21’41 that day (6’14 pace). Always fun to put things in perspective!”
Sam Alexander (7th, 2:27:03): “I had an eventful last 2.5 miles. Full of laying down, walking, and running 8min pace.”
Scott Leslie (6th, 2:25:44): “Had great conditions and negative split the 2nd half for a 1 min PB.”
Jonas Hampton (1st, 2:15:57): “It feels great to win this race, especially for my first marathon. I’ve done the half for the past 3 years and have always been just off the podium. Now to win the full, which I wanted to do since graduating college, is just incredible.” [check out our full interview with Jonas here]
Had to converse a little more with the one known as Matty P since he had a big old bull’s eye on his back going into the race. The defending champ was surprisingly getting it even more from the elite women’s field, and all eyes were on him on race day.
With you being marked by so many other runners, do you feel like you answered the call?
Haha…don’t see too many chickens out there laying sub-2:18’s.
Jonas made a move at 16 and I didn’t cover it. That was the race.
How were conditions? They must’ve been pretty ideal considering the times you guys ran.
No, pretty windy. It makes Jonas’ time that much better…that and the fact that he didn’t hide in the pack. He was up front taking the wind from the gun.
Wow. Have an approx MPH for that wind?
No. I went outside of the hotel around 5am, and it was already windy. Not a PR day.
But you came close anyway. How good does it make you feel knowing that? You gotta be feeling really good about your fitness, all things considered.
Not really. I’ve been underperforming all year. Last good race was Hartford last year. Decent showing at the Blessing this summer, but nothing I’m happy with. Hoping to rebound for the trials.
Well, he’s hungry. That’s a good sign. Seems like he’s been running very well for the last year or so, but he’s not content to call it good enough. Can’t wait until the Trials!
Images courtesy of Scott Mason Photo.
