I've been trying to come up with a list of all the winners of the Boston Mini Marathon. The project started after the 2010 race, and I spent a few minutes looking up the easy years, 1998 to 2010. After that I put away the list and forgot about it. There was no hurry; so far as I knew I was the only one who cared.The 2011 race, billed by everyone as the 32nd annual Boston Mini Marathon, brought the project back to mind again. Winners Kevin Sullivan and Sheryl Rosen had run the fastest times since 1998, but there were 18 other years to consider before you could say whether or not Sullivan's 69:29 or Rosen's 82:10 were course records. I went back to work, digging through old Gulf Winds Track Club newsletters and back issues of Racing South magazine. With eight-and-a-half years of data still missing, I tried Google out of desperation. And found this:
This was entirely unexpected. If the 2011 race was really the 32nd annual Boston Mini Marathon, then 1980 would have been the first race. But this Waycross Journal-Herald article indicates that the Mini actually started in 1979. Unless someone skipped a year along the way, the 2011 race was actually the 33rd Boston Mini Marathon.
Of course, this discovery just creates more work. Now the age of the race is in question, and the 1979 newspaper article carelessly omits the name of the top woman finisher. You know, it may be time to shelve the list for another twelve months. The work won't be any easier in a year, but with any luck I'll have forgotten about it entirely by then.
| Boston (mini) Marathon Champions, 1980-2011 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Men | Women |
| 29 October 2011 | 69:29 Kevin Sullivan | 82:10 Sheryl Rosen |
| 30 October 2010 | 75:13 Vince Molosky | 86:59 Lisa Johnson |
| 31 October 2009 | 79:49 Vince Molosky | 87:10 Sheryl Rosen |
| 25 October 2008 | 81:50 Myles Gibson | 86:19 Sheryl Rosen |
| 27 October 2007 | 76:18 John Seppala | 87:35 Sheryl Rosen |
| 28 October 2006 | 81:18 Michael Martinez | 82:49 Sheryl Rosen |
| 29 October 2005 | 81:11 Myles Gibson | 96:32 Jennifer Kilinski |
| 30 October 2004 | 83:55 David Yon | 91:57 Jane Johnson |
| 25 October 2003 | 76:20 Myles Gibson | 97:52 Lisa Whitworth |
| 26 October 2002 | 84:38 Mike Posey | 92:41 Carrie Weyant |
| 27 October 2001 | 82:36 Steven Walker | 95:24 Carrie Weyant |
| 28 October 2000 | 75:28 Art Remillard | 83:20 Sarah Docter-Williams |
| 30 October 1999 | 78:22 Corey Cherr | 95:28 Julie Carico |
| 31 October 1998 | 80:25 Rusty Jones | 97:01 Peggy Simpson |
| 1997 | ||
| 1996 | ||
| 28 October 1995 | 78:21 Paul Hough | 91:01 Katherine Perez |
| 29 October 1994 | 72:42 Paul Hough | 92:34 Diane Turchick |
| 30 October 1993 | 75:33 Paul Hough | 86:09 Carrie Weyant |
| 31 October 1992 | 77:45 Steve Carney | 86:05 Carrie Hunnicutt |
| 26 October 1991 | ||
| 27 October 1990 | 79:33 Brian Murphy | 86:44 Donna Miller |
| 28 October 1989 | 71:23 Alex Walmsley | 93:10 Mary Jean Yon |
| 29 October 1988 | 74:22 T. C. Carroll | 1:41:54 Nancy Widener |
| 1987 | ||
| 8 November 1986 | ||
| 11 November 1985 | 67:30 Herb Wills | 88:06 Patti Sudduth |
| 27 October 1984 | ||
| 1983 | ||
| 1982 | 67:48 Noel Shuman | |
| 31 October 1981 | 69:57 Gary Slayton | 88:56 Lt. Vickie Monroe |
| 1980 | Gary Slayton | |
| 27 October 1979 | 71:40 Bruce Carpenter | |
| Got any information on the missing years? Let me know! Send an e-mail to hwills@gmail.com, or leave a comment below. | ||
Links:
- 2011 Boston story, "Sullivan and Rosen smokin' at the Boston Mini"
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/10/boston-mini-2011.html - 2010 Boston story, "Molosky makes it two-in-a-row at the Boston Mini"
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2010/10/boston-mini-2010.html - 2009 Boston story, "Another Boston Mini Win For Rosen"
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/11/another-boston-mini-win-for-rosen.html - Another area race that doesn't know it's own age
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/06/sizzler-2011.html - Find upcoming races of various ages in the Tallahassee region
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
