On Saturday, May 9, Benjamin Mears registered for the Eugene Marathon from his apartment in Mountain View, California.
And the following morning at 7 a.m., Mears was one of over 5,000 runners who crossed the start line of the ninth annual Eugene Marathon and Half Marathon race.
“I’m not surprised that he decided to jump in Eugene last minute,” said Billy Mateker, Mear’s Strava track club teammate. “Ben is a gamer and loves to run and race.”
Just 20 days earlier, Mears had completed the Boston Marathon in 2 hours, 29 minutes, 49 seconds. He finished 84th overall.
But the competitor in Mears was not satisfied with his performance in Massachusetts. He was determined to break his personal marathon record of 2:26:05, set at the California International Marathon back in 2013.
“I knew I was taking a risk trying to do another marathon 20 days after Boston,” said Mears. “But Boston hadn’t gone as well as I had hoped, and I felt like I had recovered well from it…which is why I decided to do Eugene.”
The Eugene Marathon has been on Mears’ mind since the beginning of the year – he had booked a flight to Eugene two weeks before, strategically with an airline that allowed last-minute cancellations. But the combination of the potential to hit a personal record and the chance to run with Mateker was enough to finally convince him to make the trip.
“He was 40 percent when we talked to him last Monday,” said Cayla Hatton, a friend of Mears and Mateker’s girlfriend. “And when we talked on Saturday, he was on his way up to Eugene.”
Mears landed in Portland around noon on Saturday, and then drove a rental car to Eugene to pick up his race packet. At 5:45 a.m. on marathon Sunday, less than 24 hours later, Mears drove to the start and began warming up for the race.
The 26-year-old has been running competitively since middle school. He ran track and cross-country during his time as both an undergraduate at Amherst College and a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts. The Eugene Marathon would have been Mears’ fifth completed marathon — had he made it across the finish line.
Mears ended up dropping out around mile 13.5, after following too closely with the half marathon pack and taking the first half faster than he intended.
“I was hitting 5:25s for the first 6 or 7 miles but things started to go downhill from there,” said Mears. “After the half, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hit my time goal so I decided to drop.”
While he was disappointed to drop out, Mears recognized the benefits of not overworking himself by completing two marathons in less than a month.
And though he left Eugene without a finisher’s medal or personal record, Mears was content with his decision to compete. He hopes to add the Eugene Marathon to his list of completed marathons in the future.
“I definitely would consider doing Eugene again…although not 20 days after Boston!”
