UPDATE: Keith Almeida Representing Enfield in Boston Marathon

UPDATE

Keith Almeida of Enfield completed Monday's Boston Marathon in 4 hours, 18 minutes, 10 seconds. He placed 191st among participants in the 60-69 age group.

ORIGINAL STORY

Just after 10 o'clock Monday morning, Enfield will officially be represented in the 116th running of the Boston Marathon.

Keith Almeida, a 60-year-old resident of Brainard Road, is the lone official entrant from town. He is competing in Boston for the seventh straight year, but for the first time in the 60-69 age division.

A member of the Hartford Track Club, Almeida and about 40 fellow members made the drive to Hopkinton, MA early Monday morning, and prepared to tackle the 26.2 mile course in unseasonably hot conditions.

Temperatures are expected to reach 88 degrees in Boston Monday, but Almeida said he has competed in similar situations in the past.

"I ran the Chicago Marathon the year they cancelled it in mid-race," he said. That was in October 2007, when a record-breaking heat wave killed one person and sent more than 350 to the hospital.

Almeida has been running for over 40 years, since his days as a soccer player at Waterford High School. Monday marks his 31st marathon, which includes New York, Miami and Phoenix in addition to Chicago and Boston.

His personal best time of 3 hours, 26 minutes came in 2006, the first year he qualified to run in Boston. "That first year, I was just floating," he recalled. "I'm usually pretty good on the hills, and I've learned to go easy the first 13 to 15 miles."

Almeida  said he has no delusions about winning his age division this year. "I've had a lot of injuries the last two years," he said. "I've been training about 30 miles a week, but to run a marathon, you need 40 to 45. I'm just looking to have a good time and finish."