She won (her own) Boston Marathon

Laura Smith of Port Washington has been running for years and finally reached the pinnacle of a marathoner’s career. She qualified for the Boston Marathon.

That alone came with a feeling of accomplishment. Smith never imagined it to be an attainable goal.

“It’s kind of like the benchmark for marathon runners to qualify for Boston,” she said.

Smith ran a qualifying time at the 2018 Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, a scant nine seconds under the Boston requirement.

A qualifying time, Smith said, only provides the option to apply. Selections are made from the fastest runners on down until 30,000 are chosen.

Last May, she improved her qualifying time by finishing the Wisconsin Marathon in 3 hours, 27 minutes, 15 seconds, which was several minutes under the standard.

She trained hard for her milestone event, and then received an email in mid-March from the Boston Athletic Association—one of the world’s most famous runs was postponed to Sept. 14 due to the coronavirus.

She had trained for 15 weeks at that point with the target date of April 20, when the marathon was supposed to be held.

“It’s really hard to hear that kind of news,” she said.

But Smith has four children and didn’t want to let them down.

“I wanted to bounce back from a tough situation,” she said. “I wanted them to learn a good life lesson from it.”

Smith decided to run her own marathon.

“I trained really hard to run this distance. I wanted to run a marathon on April 20, so I followed through,” she said.

Smith’s usual training run near her home in Port is 22 miles, compared to the 26.2-mile length of a marathon.

She mapped out a plan to increase the course to a full marathon length. It covered the roads she usually runs on plus some additional distance on the bike trails. Friends marked the new part of the course with chalk so she wouldn’t lose her way.

For her simulated marathon, Smith wore the “fuel belt” she normally uses when she trains. It’s basically a fanny pack that stores energy gels and other snacks that “does add some weight,” she said.

Smith’s husband Andy brought extra water and kept refilling her bottles as she ran as a substitute for the water stations at a regular marathon.

Extended family, friends and coworkers cheered her on with signs and cowbells, the classic incentives of choice for marathon fans.

The morning of Monday, August 20—Smith’s marathon day—brought cool temperatures and a fair amount of wind, conditions that were “fantastic” for long-distance running, Smith said.

She stayed to the left side of the road during the one-participant race and overcame her fair share of obstacles.

“The biggest challenge on Monday was the lack of other runners on the course.  When you race with a large group of runners it’s easier to pace yourself and try to stick with someone running a similar pace when you start to fatigue,” Smith said.

She did meet a few people, albeit not runners. “I ran into two construction zones that I didn’t know would be there. Both crews were great and let me safely pass through and even wished me good luck,” Smith said.

At mile 21, she forgot to have her husband fill her water bottle and she ran out of water at mile 22, “which made that a difficult stretch of the race to get through,” she said.

But Smith finished and ran well under her goal. Her time of 3:35:59 was nearly 10 minutes faster than her target of 3:45.

She said she celebrated with a “Culver’s ice cream afterward, a Concrete Mixer that had Oreo and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.”  

Smith got a taste of running at Grafton High School. After sitting on the bench in basketball, she found she liked cross country because it allowed everyone to compete. Smith said she wasn’t the fastest runner on the team but wasn’t the slowest either.

After she graduated from college, she wanted to continue the running that had become an important part of her life. Her first marathon was the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon in 2009. Smith was hooked.

“It was amazing. Crossing the finish line I knew it was something I was going to keep doing,” she said.

“Some of it is just that personal challenge. I like being able to compete with myself. Some of it is that time to be out in nature. I don’t have to worry about anything else. I find it therapeutic in a way.”

Smith runs five days per week and does strength training four days per week. The strength work, she said, has helped build muscle, decrease the risk of injury and increase her pace.

She squeezes her training in around being a wife, mother of four children ages 9 to 4 and her part-time job as a school group coordinator for Ozaukee Family Services.

Although the coronavirus postponed Smith’s debut in the Boston Marathon, running has been an important escape while Wisconsin’s safer-at-home order is in effect.

“Running is one of the few times that I leave the house right now. It feels good to get some fresh air,” she said, “and I feel like it helps me to be a better parent. Running helps me to manage anxiety, and I can better help my kids through this experience when I feel calm.”

Her goal is still within reach. The Boston Marathon was not canceled, but moved to Sept. 14, provided stay-at-home orders are lifted by then.

Smith can make that date.

“That’s the hope. Boston in September,” she said.