Scott Alford set a goal to qualify for the 2020 Boston Marathon. The 43-year-old from Chicago signed up for private coaching back in January and got matched with Run SMART Project coach Gary Berard. He needed 3:25 to BQ but was looking for more like 3:22 for insurance.
Scott executed his race plan brilliantly in Chicago with a 1:39:53 first half split. He closed in a negative split of 1:39:26 to finish in 3:19:33. [Full Results] After the race Coach Gary commented, “Scott with a total star performance. We were initially targeting a 3:25 until the BAA made the adjustment – so he just ran faster.”
Scott’s reflects on the end of race:
When I crossed the 1 mile to go, my watch showed 3:12:20, so I thought I had to run 7:40 to qualify. My friend yelled at me to go. I kept thinking about all the speed work you made me do and that I could tough it out. I ran my final mile at 7:13. Exactly the pace I would run for speed work when you required 7:16.
It felt so great to see my family and cross the finish line knowing I had qualified. It has been a long time since I have been able to surprise myself like I did this morning.