Like Father, But Only Faster

One could say that Bryan French is following in the footsteps of his father, Harry, who ran cross country at Fairfield Ludlowe High School in the 1960s.

But that would be inaccurate. Bryan is much faster.

The younger French, 33, returned home Saturday night from Germany, where he competed in the 25^th annual Munich Marathon. He completed the Oct. 10 race with a personal best time of 3:05.28, which earned him 290^th place among 5,193 male finishers – and, best of all, he was by far the fastest American in the group.

"I'm very happy with it," French said Sunday afternoon. "We arrived in Munich Saturday at 10:30 a.m., and there was some jet lag. But your body is pretty resilient and I was able to perform close to my peak. I was aiming for three hours, but I'd have to have had the perfect day."

A 35-year-old from Ukraine, Andrej Noumov, captured the Munich Marathon with a time of 2:18.22. The runner-up was a German, Hermann Achmuller, 35, who covered the 26.2-mile course in 2:23.45.

French was surprised at what he discovered after he crossed the finish line. "About 90 percent of the contestants had beers in their hands. Usually it's water and Gatorade-like stuff. But they were drinking beer," he said.

And what did Bryan French consume after completing the marathon? He chuckled, "When in Munich, do what people do in Munich…"

When he attended the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Bryan competed in three Boston Marathons as a "bandit runner." The term defines runners who are unregistered, un-timed and numberless. "My best time there was around 3:50," he said.

Born and raised in Fairfield, French works as a civil engineer for Rocco V. D'Andrea, Inc., in Riverside. He's also a youth group advisor at First Church Congregational and the owner of a three-family home. Over the past few years he has devoted much of his remaining leisure time to training for Ironman events, half marathons and marathons, often at the TriFitness club in the Brick Walk.

By far, Ironman events are the most grueling, encompassing a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run. This past July, French placed 34^th in his age group and 172^nd over-all in the prestigious Ford Lake Placid (N.Y.) Ironman. His time was a creditable 10:32.49.

What's next on his ambitious schedule?

He's already registered for the Ford Ironman Coeur d'Alene in Idaho, which will take place on June 26. But he's intrigued by the prospect of entering next year's Boston Marathon, as a registered runner, on Patriot's Day in April.

"I might do the Boston Marathon, but my Ironman schedule could interfere," he said. "I believe the Munich Marathon was a qualifier for Boston, and you can defer for a year."

Results for the 25^th annual Munich Marathon may be found at www.muenchenmarathon.de.