By: Jill Tormey
2/9/2006

Starting off on the right foot, a freshman from Bennington, Kan., qualified for the most prestigious marathon in the world. Jarrod Tiede is going to run in the Boston Marathon, which only allows 20,000 entrants each year.

Tiede, a part of the Cross Country Team, qualified for this marathon by running in the Dallas Whiterock marathon Dec. 11.

 “Coach (Winston Kenton) was the one who planted this idea in my head but only to run the half marathon, but I was dumb enough to try the full thing,” said Tiede.

To prepare for marathons and cross country meets, it takes a lot of running and conditioning. Men competing in cross country meets usually run an 8K, which is 4.97 miles. So during the week on an average they run about 60 miles or as high as 70 miles.

“He was the middle of the pack runner when he first joined our team, but by the end of the year, he was one of our best runners,” said Kenton.

The team started training in June. “Coach said to trust him that it would make us better than we’d ever been,” Tiede said.

On that note, Tiede decided he would be in the best shape of his life. But not until after he ran his first Cross Country meet Sept. 3.

“It hurt a lot,” said Tiede, but that only made him work harder. During his last two meets he said he was smiling the entire time.

“I felt like I was flying and my times proved me right,” he said.

To qualify for the marathon Tiede had to run a 3:10:00 and then was allowed a 59-second grace period. When he checked the unofficial results, he came in at 3:11:00, just one second over. But when the official results came in, “I barely squeaked in,” Tiede said.

The official results are determined with a computer chip on the runner’s shoe that is more accurate than timing everyone from the time the gun fires to the finish line.

The Boston Marathon is different from any other marathon in the world. The first 18 miles are downhill and then once you hit 18 mile marker, the runners head into about four to five miles of continuous uphill climb. The marathon is actually 26 miles long. This marathon is the oldest in the books, dating back to 1896.

With about two months left before the Boston Marathon, he has already started his training.

Meanwhile, Tiede described how it feels to qualify for such an event. “You know that feeling when you have too much bubble gum in your mouth? It’s kinda like that.”

Kenton explains that Tiede has the skills to pay his dues and train right to improve in the future.

“Jarrod is intelligent and already understands many of the concepts associated with distance running,” Kenton said. “This is the sort of thing that takes some runners a lifetime to figure out. He is part of the future of our program’s success, for sure.”