This project started with me asking a bunch of people from the website runningahead to fill out the questionnaire and its great to get a response from another member of that online community. Thanks Hermosaboy for taking the time to do this.

Run lots, mostly easy sometimes hard.

Name: Rob E – @Hermosaboy

Sex: Male

Age (at the time of first BQ): 41 (turned 42 eight days later)

Height: 5’6”

Weight (at the time of first BQ): 142

At which marathon did you get your first BQ? What was your finishing time? Tell us a little about the race.

Rocket City in Huntsville, AL. I had blown up at Des Moines 10 weeks earlier and got the crazy idea to rebound and run Rocket City. Race went VERY well!   Went out on 3:20 (BQ) pace through around 15 miles and then started picking it up. Ended up running 3:14:44 and passing a ton of people the last 10k.

How long had you been running when you ran your first BQ? Did you run in college or high school?

I started running in June of 2003. I ran in high school and in the Army to stay in shape for other activities but was not a runner. High School it was baseball, basketball and football. Army it was to pass my PT test.

What was your approximate lifetime mileage at the time of your first BQ?

Ignoring high school and Army – 3,465

How many miles did you run in the year before your first BQ? 1,942

Approximately how many races did you run in that year?

13

Did you follow a canned program? If so, which one? If not, can you give us an idea of what your training philosophy was?

Pfitzinger 55 mile Had tried using an online coach and Hal Higdon, but came up short.

Did you run with a running club or utilize a coach?

Ran on my own with suggested workouts from online coach before Des Moines. After Des Moines, put together plan based on Pfitzinger.

Did cross training play a role in your training? If so, how?

No

Did speed work play a role or specific workouts play a role in your training? If so, how?

Mainly simple tempo or pace runs along with an occasional race.

Any other thoughts you would like to share with those of working towards a BQ?

I think I read something on runningahead that I think really captures what it takes – run lots, mostly easy and sometimes hard. For me and many of my friends, the BQ came after we had built up a strong base of easy miles and then started to add in some faster stuff either in races or in workouts. Also, starting behind pace and having the confidence to negative split if the course allows is very helpful.