Two St. John residents represented Love City well in the 110th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 17.
Moe Chabuz and Pat Mahoney both beat their times from last year as they completed the 26.2-mile course that stretches from rural Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to downtown Boston.
Chabuz, 56, finished in 3:46:09, placing him in 10,128 place out of the total 19,688 finishers. He also placed 1,195 in his age group out of a total of 3,302 finishers between the ages of 50 and 59. ChabuzÂ’s time placed him in 7,410 place out of 12,063 overall male finishers.
Reaching His Goal
The long-time Love City resident and owner of Skinny Legs beat his time from last year by almost one-half-hour. Chabuz completed the 2005 Boston Marathon in about four hours and seven minutes and was aiming to cut his time this year.
“I was hoping to break four hours, that was my goal,” he said. “I finished in three hours and 46 minutes, so that felt really good.” Chabuz credited his new wife Toni with helping him to reach his goal.
“I have to thank my wife, coach and personal trainer Toni,” he said. “She has been making sure that I’ve been eating well and teaching me yoga to stretch out my hips and legs.”
After the race was over, Chabuz said that he “had nothing left.”
“I ran the whole way and gave it my all,” he said. “I ran as a good a race as I could have, and I feel great about that. It was phenomenal.”
Chabuz narrowly missed qualifying for next yearÂ’s Boston Marathon in his age group.
“I was coming down the last stretch and I could see the time,” he said. “I was 10 seconds away from qualifying in my age group for next year. But I am very happy with my race.”
Bragging Rights
Mahoney, 61, crossed the finish line in 4:23:54, making her the 16,377 finisher overall. She was the 6,042 woman to cross the finish line out of the 7,625 women runners who completed the grueling course.
Mahoney definitely won bragging rights in her age group, where she finished 39 out of a total of 721 runners between the ages of 60 and 69 who crossed the finish line. Mahoney didnÂ’t let a little thing like running a marathon get in the way of enjoying the sights of Boston.
“I was supposed to sit in my hotel room and just relax and read a book,” she said. “But there was a Boston Red Sox game that day and I’ve never been to a major league ball game. So I went down to Fen-way Park and got a ticket.”
Pre-Race Baseball Game
After watching the Red Sox beat Seattle, Mahoney went out the next day and ran the best marathon of the four that she has run. “Last year I had my worst run in Boston,” she said. “But this year I had my best race yet. It was wonderful.”
Mahoney ran most of the race, only taking two short walking breaks, and credited the crowd with keeping her going. “The crowd support was unbelievable,” she said. “I had my name on my shirt and when I stopped to walk the first time at mile 23, a man from the crowd was cheering me on and calling my name. He was running along side of me and was just amazing.”
Look out for more marathons in the future for the modest Mahoney.
“It’s fun,” she said. “It’s something to do in my old age.”
