Older but wiser: Twenty years after Boston debacle, Stone qualifies again

PALMER — Twenty years ago, Gene Stone entered the 100th Boston Marathon with eyes on breaking 2 hours and 40 minutes. Had he achieved that goal, he would have finished less than 30 minutes behind that year’s champion, Moses Tanui of Kenya. But achieve it he did not.

“I just unraveled,” said Stone, now the Superintendent of Schools for the Mat-Su Borough. “I just went out too fast, more like a 2:35 pace halfway through and I just didn’t hold up. I could feel the wheels coming off at 19 miles. It was pretty ugly the last seven miles. My last mile was probably 15 minutes — it was horrible.”

He finished in 3 hours and 5 minutes, an experience so disappointing that the former middle-distance track runner at Boise State didn’t run a marathon for another 20 years.

Early this year, Stone decided that needed to change, and in true New Year’s Resolution fashion, he consulted a nutritionist, dropped weight, and by April was back to road running, free from the stress fractures and foot pain that hampered him in his younger days. He credits the shoes, given to him by a friend and former Broncos teammate who went on to start his own shoe company with that minor miracle.

“I really was surprised at how quick your body snaps back — that muscle memory,” Stone said. “I certainly feel I had an advantage having a running background. I kind of knew what to do.”

Meanwhile, Stone’s daughter Sydney, a recent high school grad ready to follow in her father’s footsteps and attend Boise State in the fall, decided to join him in his bid to train for the Portland Marathon in October. Up every morning at 5:30 throughout the long Alaska summer, the two trained together as Stone began to think about the possibility of once again qualifying for Boston.

His body may have been 20 years older, but he was also 20 years wiser.

“Over time I thought, I’d really like to go back (to Boston) and enjoy it — take in the experience. I only remember a lot of agony,” Stone said. “I think I’m a more patient runner now, and I’m older so I have to be. I took this as more of an experience to go to Boston one more time, and who knows? Maybe two more times.”

On a rainy October day in Portland, Stone knew he needed to beat the 3 hour and 40 minute qualifying threshold, but knew he needed to beat it by at least three minutes, because so many try to enter the Boston field, the curve tends to be skewed.

“As I was running it, I was pretty conservative and really paid attention to my splits,” Stone said. “At 20, 21 miles I felt really good, and said, ‘OK, I got this.’ Even though it was pouring rain, I felt really comfortable.”

Stone finished in 3:28, earning him a spot in either of the next two Boston Marathons. Again, deferring to his new-found perspective, he’s taking his time, waiting until 2018 to take his shot in the 122nd event.

“I’d like to do something similar to 3:20 or 3:30 and really just enjoy it, pay attention to my surroundings — really take it in and savor the moment,” Stone said. “It’s like childbirth: You want to put at least a year between those things.”

This year also marked his first as a superintendent of schools for the borough, taking over for Dr. Deena Paramo, who left for the same job in the Anchorage district. Stone said returning to running helped balance out his work life, as well.

“My issue was a poor balance between work and personal life,” he said. “I guess the biggest advice is to put yourself in your appointment book and keep the appointment just like you would with someone else. I have better energy and having that exercise routine daily just clears your head. I think I got into a routine of 5 or 6 years of really minimizing the importance of it. I was getting to that point where I would probably pay for it in my health and I just really didn’t want to be taking high blood pressure medicine and cholesterol medicine.”

The next competitive run on Stone’s schedule is in April in Idaho, where Sydney will again join him for the Race to Roby Creek half-marathon.

“I think she’s got it in the genes a little bit. She was under four hours and only trained for three months,” Stone said of his daughter, who placed second in Portland in the 19-and-under women’s category. “This turned into being a real positive time for us to connect… It’s created nice memories, not only for the marathon, but the whole process. I think it kind of opened her eyes to set a goal, go after it, get it done, and that what might seem overwhelming turns out to be manageable and achievable.”