Jason Castonia of Edgecomb, and Dr. Stephen Reed of Wiscasset successfully completed the 114th Boston Marathon on Patriots’ Day. According to the official times released, which are incorrect, Castonia placed 19505 in a time of 4:31.07, and Reed placed 19584 in 4:31.53.
Reed’s real time was three hours, 26 minutes, over an hour faster than the Boston Athletic Association’s posted time. “There was a big, big glitch in the system,” Reed said.
After finishing the race, Reed went to the official information site and had them scan his bib number and they gave him a time of 3:26. “I was not all that happy with it, but it was a lot better” than what was posted in the paper, Reed commented.
“It teed me off. I’m down there running my (sic butt) off and have it reported wrong,” Reed said of the official time posted in area daily papers. “I feel for people who are out there for four hours. It’s an ordeal being out there that long,” Reed added.
Reed’s 40 K time of 3:17.23, with about three miles to go, was consistent with his time of 3:26.
“There’s going to be a disparity between the chip and gun time in the mass of humanity,” Reed said of the 25,000 participants. The gun time or net time is from the official start of the race, and the chip time starts when a competitor crosses the starting line. Reed said the time difference is usually around five minutes.
The Patriots’ Day race was Reed’s 21st straight Boston Marathon and his 48th marathon. His best time in a marathon came at Boston 20 years ago when he finished in 2:42. “As long as it’s a gradual slowing down and not an experiential slowing down,” Reed said of his times. “I am thankful for what I have, not for what I don’t have,” Reed added of his declining times.
The 62-year-old retired doctor placed 20th in his age group. “I did not feel good, except the last three miles. I passed a slew of people. I thought I had pretty good training, but I felt awful and didn’t have any energy. The weather was good, the conditions were good for a marathon. It’s one of those things – you can feel good at the beginning and have a bad day, or you can feel bad at the beginning have a great day,” Reed commented.
A day after running in Boston, Reed was back on the street running his three miles a day to keep his streak going of running at least thee miles a day, every day. In June, Reed’s daily running streak will hit 34 years.
“Not many can say they ran three miles the day after running a marathon, but I have to,” Reed said.