Long Lake resident rocks the Boston Marathon

Jeff Green | Apr 27, 2016

It's not that easy to qualify for the Boston Marathon, which is a bucket list event for many long-distance runners. Patricia Humphrey, a 66-year-old marathoner who has lived on Long Lake between Parham and Mountain Grove for the past three years, qualified for this year’s event based on her time at the Philadelphia Marathon in November of 2014.

She had already run the Boston Marathon before, five years ago, and when she qualified for this year's race, which took place on April 18, she thought it might be her last marathon and she wanted to go out in a good time.

She ran the 42-kilometre course, complete with the four Newton's Hills that culminate with the aptly named Heartbreak Hill, in 4:39.05.

The time is significant because it is 55 seconds faster than the qualifying time for her age group for next year's race, and that might prove to be a temptation.

Humphrey’s running career began 16 years ago, when she was only 50. Her mother had recently died of cancer, and Patricia decided to take up running in order to complete a 5 km cancer run later that year. She took to the sport and began increasing the length of her runs over time, finally building up to the marathon distance.

According to her husband and chief supporter, Colin, Patricia plans to stick to the half marathon distance from here on mainly because the preparation for a marathon is so onerous and time consuming.

She was a common sight this winter on Long Lake Road and Road 38 training for this year's event.

“She wanted to make a good time in case it was her last marathon, that's for sure,” said Colin, when contacted by phone early this week. “She was pushing her speed at the end to make sure she beat the 4:40 qualification time.”

Patricia has retired from working at FW Black's Appliances in Kingston, where Colin is a co-owner. They intend to remain in the area for years to come, as they enjoy living on Long Lake.

“We love it here. We never plan on moving again,” said Colin.