Former Henryetta track and cross country record holder Brandon Payne will become part of history next Monday.
He will be running in the 121st Boston Marathon, a 26-mile run through Boston.
Payne graduated from Henryetta high school after setting five high school records. Those included the 800, 1600 and 3200 meter runs along with the 3200 meter relay and cross-country 5K.
He went on to run both track and cross country at Rogers State University in Claremore
Since graduating from RSU with a BS in Business Administration and working now at Verizon in Tulsa, Payne has been keeping up his love for running with a number of marathon entries.
He pointed out that just being a long-distance runner does not mean automatic participation in the Boston Marathon. Runners have to meet a series of qualifications. They must first run in a qualifying marathon race and hit the standard before they can even register for the race. That registration does not guarantee they get to participate. In his group, men aged 18-34, the standard is three hours and five minutes flat. “That means not one second more,” he said.
Once the total amount of submissions surpass the allotted field size for qualified athletes, then those who are the fastest among the pool of applicants in their age and gender group will be accepted. The acceptance of official race entrants will be based on qualifying time, with the fastest qualifiers (in relation to their age and gender) being accepted first until the race is full.
Payne’s qualifying race was the Fargo, North Dakota, Marathon last May. He finished in eighth place out of 1,493 finishers with a time of 2 hours, 51 minutes and 34 seconds.
“This is going to be my first Boston marathon and my third overall full marathon,” Payne said with pride.
The fastest time a runner completed the Boston Marathon was set in 2011 when Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya ran it in two hours, three minutes and two seconds.
The Boston Marathon features an historic course starting on Main Street in rural Hopkinton and winds its way through Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley - with an agonizing stretch up Newton's Heartbreak Hill before finishing in Boston near the John Hancock Tower at Copley Square.
For more about the Boston Marathon as well as a way to keep up with Payne and the other participants, go to the official website at: http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon.aspx
Video of his family wishing Payne well at Boston: