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If theres a race in the area this weekend, its a decent bet Kate Stoker will be standing at the starting line and crossing the finish line. Racing is Stokers hobby and passion. Last year, she ran 55 races and is on a similar pace this year.
Stoker will run the Boston Marathon on April 19. It is her first Boston, and the path she took to get there is unconventional. Stoker, 42, didnt begin running until 2004. Her brothers were runners, and Stoker attended a few of their races. I said I wish I could do it, Kate remembers. It looked like a great accomplishment.
Initially she could only run about 400 yards. In her first race in August of 2004, Stoker finished by walking and running the 5-kilometer (3.1 mile) distance. Everybody was so friendly, Stoker says. I didnt think Id ever run a marathon.
Gradually, Stoker became hooked on running and stepped up mileage. She ran her first marathon in Las Vegas in December 2005, running 4:29.24. She has since run six more, including New York each of the past two years. She qualified for Boston by running a net time of 3:48.40 in the Steamtown Marathon in Pennsylvania last October. She made the qualifying time for Boston by just over two minutes but more amazingly, dropped nearly 41 minutes off the time of her first marathon four years earlier. I never thought Id be able to run Boston, Kate says. I thought Id be way too slow.
Stoker is prepared for the race. She competed in all four races of the regional Boston Buildup Series, and ran grueling 18-mile races on consecutive days in late March. She has run one ultra marathon (31 miles) and figures she will run longer races, perhaps even a 50-miler. First, however, is to savor her first Boston Marathon experience.
Now its time to enjoy it, Kate says. Im happy I got there. I want to make the most of the experience.
One in a series of local runners in the Boston Marathon.
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