Pushing for the extra mile

Flathead senior Justin Barth set to run in this week's Boston Marathon

If Justin Barth has a choice, he says he prefers to run the shorter events in a track meet rather than the long ones.

So what is the Flathead High School senior doing in Boston on Monday?

He's running a marathon.

Yes, all 26 miles, 385 yards of it.

That's if everything goes according to plan.

Barth, 18, will be one of 25,000 runners competing in the 112th Boston Marathon.

"I think a marathon is in every runner's dreams," Barth said.

"I've never thought of myself as a distance runner. I have chosen to do the 800 (two laps around the track) instead of the two mile (eight laps) in track meets."

Barth has one marathon under his belt. He ran that one in Huntington Beach, Calif., in early February, finishing in 3 hours, 4 minutes. He was one of 1,100 finishers.

To qualify for Boston, Barth had to run a marathon in less than 3:10.

"The date was good, I wanted to get one not too close to track season," Barth said of choosing Huntington Beach.

He started training for that one in mid-November, a month after he finished ninth at the Class AA state cross country meet in Helena.

"I think I got up to 70 miles a week," Barth said of his training. "I would run after school, and some guys on the team would run with me on weekdays. But it was tough getting anyone to come out for the 20-milers on the weekends.

"I liked doing the two-hour runs by myself," he added. "You can get away from everything; it's a great way to get ready for school the next week."

Barth said the first 20 miles of his California marathon "went exceptionally well, until I hit the wall at mile 21. Then, that was followed by a couple miles when my pace slowed down. At mile 23, I had to completely stop, walk for a mile. My legs refused to move."

But Barth was spurred on by his desire to qualify for Boston.

"I got the time on my (watch) to count down from 3:10," he said. "That final mile, I had to keep on pushing or I would lose my goal.

"I was going through a lot of self-doubt in those last few miles, but I heard all the stories of Boston (from Flathead assistant coach Jesse Rumsey). She said it was the best running experience in her life. I wanted to keep pushing so I could experience it."

Rumsey, along with Flathead cross country coach Paul Jorgensen, helped Barth with his first marathon training program. Barth also did a lot of online research.

"I think I trained pretty smart," he said. "I didn't overdo it."

The whole idea of marathon running came from Barth's father, Dr. Roger Barth.

"I never thought it would be a reality until my dad brought it up this winter after cross country was over," Justin said. "He wanted to do one as well."

Roger Barth also ran in the Huntington Beach marathon, but did not finish. He will be in Boston - to watch, not run.

"I asked him to be at right about mile 20, the infamous Heartbreak Hill," Justin said. "I hope seeing him at 20 miles will keep me pushing."

Barth said his first goal is to finish the race on Monday.

His second …

"I need to be under three hours," he said. "I wanted to be under three hours my last one. It's probably good I didn't. This gives me something to shoot for at Boston."

His third goal won't happen this time, but maybe next year.

"If I could run a marathon with (my dad) where we would both qualify for Boston, that would be the greatest experience of all," Justin said.

Monday's race will start at 10 a.m. The forecast is for temperatures in the high 60s and sunny skies.

Barth must get on a bus at 6:45 a.m. to head to the starting area. That trip from a runners' staging area is just two miles.

But until the race finally starts, "I'll try to keep myself focused," he said.

Barth said it took him a month to recover from his first marathon. If that's the case again, most of his prep track season will have passed by.

"I've had a rough go for track," he said. "I've never qualified for state. I've gotten close."

In cross country, Barth has earned all-state honors twice. He finished 13th his sophomore year.

"I enjoy cross country more," he said. "I love the team aspect. I'm running for the team more - that causes me to run harder.

"And coach Jorgensen runs an excellent summer training program. We run trails five days a week in the summer."

Barth will continue his running at Pacific Lutheran University in the fall. The school offers no athletic scholarships, but he has received a Presidential Scholarship from PLU.

"I'm definitely not done running marathons," Barth said. "Maybe I'll even try an ultramarathon."

Who knows? Maybe he'll even start competing in triathlons.

"Triathlons are very intriguing," he said. "I do have to work on my swimming."