RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
Two former standout Bellmont distance runners took their talents to the streets of Boston Monday to tackle the granddaddy of all marathons.
Ian Webb (class of 2023) and Bailey Beery (class of 2016) took advantage of the nearly perfect conditions in this year’s Boston Marathon—temperatures in the 40s and 50s, with light winds—to run outstanding times on the demanding course.
Webb posted a 2:30:13, good for 215th place overall out of over 28,000 finishers. He was 193rd among 16,103 males.
Beery ran 3:00:39 to place 4,833rd overall and 407th among 12,210 females.
Kenyan John Korir won the men’s title in 2:04:45. Sharon Lokedi, also of Kenya, ran 2:17:22 to win the women’s race. The top American finishers were Connor Mantz, fourth in the men’s division in 2:05:08, and Jess McClain, seventh in the women’s division in 2:22:43.
Webb, a two-time all-NE8 cross country runner at Bellmont and a member of the Braves’ three regional championship teams from 2019 to 2021, runs for the marathon team at the Air Force Academy, where he is in his second year. He had a remarkable marathon debut last October in the Marine Corps Marathon. He ran 2:35:53 there, finishing 30th out of over 16,000 entrants.
At Boston, he came agonizingly close to his goal of breaking 2:30. He was on pace to do that for most of the race, but a series of four hills from miles 16 to 21 (including the infamous “Heartbreak Hill”), slowed his mile pace from 5:38 in the first 15 miles to about 5:52 for the last 11. “I probably went out a little bit more aggressively than I should have,” he said, “but it was going to take a gutsy effort to break 2:30. I knew it was going to be a heavy positive split from the first half to the second, but that’s the nature of the Boston course.”
Beery, the Bellmont school record-holder in the 5K cross country distance (17:50) and the 3200-meter run (10:57), also had an impressive marathon debut, running 2:38:48 to take third in the women’s division in the 2021 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. Her time was not far off the qualifying time of 2:37 for the U.S. Women’s Olympic Trials.
The former all-state runner took a more relaxed approach toward the Boston race. “My plan was really just to soak in the experience and have a good time, which I definitely did!” she said. “It was so cool to be there.”
“I wasn’t able to train as much as I would’ve liked going into the marathon,” she added, “so I was kind of shooting for the three-hour mark.”
Both were awestruck by the atmosphere of the iconic race, which has been run on Patriots’ Day for 129 years. “It was the most energetic race I’ve ever been in,” Webb said. “All 26.2 miles of the course were lined with people. The crowd energy definitely helped in the later miles when my legs didn’t want to move. The final turn onto Boylston Street was like running in a stadium.”
Beery agreed. “The race experience was wild!” she said. “So many people racing and so many people cheering. The whole race flew by. I didn’t even have time to think how many more miles I had left. The crowd was insane. It was loud the whole time!”
Webb and Beery plan to continue marathoning. “I hope to do all the majors,” Beery said. “And I hope to be able to up my training again and run faster to where I know I can be. I know I am capable of doing better; it’s just finding the time to put in the work but mostly just to keep having fun with it.”
Webb, who ran over 80 miles some weeks preparing for Boston, will keep training and competing with the Air Force Academy team. “Career goals for marathoning right now include low 2:20s by senior year and maybe even high two teens,” he said. “After graduation is a little less certain and depends largely on what job in the Air Force I get.” Next on his race schedule is the Chicago Marathon on October 12.
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