“You gotta put in the miles” well said, Christian. Thanks for taking the time to share your story!

Name

Christian H

Sex:

Male

Age (at the time of first BQ):

31

Height:

Six feet

Weight (at the time of first BQ):

165

At which marathon did you get your first BQ?

Chicago

Tell us a little about the race.

 

Chicago 2003. This was going to be my fourth marathon and I needed a sub 3:10 to qualify for Boston.

I’d run Chicago before so I knew the course well. It was just a matter of sticking to my plan and not going out too fast.

 

How long had you been running when you ran your first BQ?

10 years

Did you run in college or high school?

Yes

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

4,000

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

1500

Approximately how many races did you run in that year?

10

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

Didn’t follow a canned program

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

Yes

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

Did zero cross training.

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

Absolutely. Did track workouts every Tuesday and long tempo runs at marathon pace on Thursdays. I live in Rochester, Michigan so I was able to take advantage of the Hansons Running Shop group runs. They were incredibly helpful.

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

You have to put the miles in to make it happen. I hopped in a marathon in 1995 and ran a 4:34. In 1999 I did Chicago and had a very disappointing race and finished around 4:30. I took a couple years and just ran and ran, and in 2002, got down to a 3:33 (or something). The following year I crossed in 3:07. I’ve since requalified twice and have run Boston a total of five times.