Runner: Town Hills Help For Marathon Training

Age: 48

Name Marathon experience: 

Carl Roche, , ran his first Boston Marathon in 2011. A lifelong resident of Westborough, last year Carl raised $5,000 as part of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team. Carl told Westborough Patch that he ran track and cross country at . He stopped running after high school, but picked it up in 2000 when he ran with , whom he called a “legendary Westborough marathoner.” Since 2007, Carl has run three half marathons. He said, “[Running the Boston Marathon] is a great experience. Anybody who likes to run should do it.”

Reason for running: 

Carl wanted to run a marathon before he turned 50, and he accomplished that goal and then some by running the 2011 Boston Marathon. With a time of 3:27, he qualified for this year’s marathon. Carl hopes to qualify for the next year’s race, but said, “I’ll have to shave off a couple of minutes on my time. Last year’s qualifying time will not qualify me for next year’s marathon. If I don’t quality I’ll do it for Dana Farber anyways. Either way I’m going to run.”

Training tip:

A busy father of three, Carl has trained by himself, following his own plan. He said, “I write out a calendar in January and I stick to it.” Carl runs only outside and does not train on the race-course. According to Carl, “Westborough is a great town for training for running. There are so many hills. If you can run in Westborough, Heartbreak Hill is nothing.”

Carl runs up to 60 miles per week and then drops down to the 40s. Starting on his program on January 1, he ran a few miles and then built up to run mile distances in the 20s, 30s and 40s. Now he’s ramping back down to preserve his strength.

Carl says that taking time off from training is key, especially as you get older. He said, “Running definitely keeps you in shape but you have to be careful the old body wears out. You need time off as well. I take days off, which are my days at the station."