April 16, 2005

SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University's athletic department will have more than just a passing interest in the 109th running of the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Cross country/track coach Kevin Swaim and graduate assistant for compliance Kyle Pifer will be making their inaugural appearance in the country's oldest marathon.

Pifer, 28, will be the next-to-youngest of the 16 Spokane runners scheduled to compete, while Swaim, 40, will be running in the master's division.

"It's the granddaddy of marathons, it's the tradition," Swaim said of why he wants to run through the landscape of Massachusetts.

Swaim qualified last October at the Seattle Marathon, running a 2:51. But that's not his fastest time. As a 23-year-old fresh out of college he ran the Holiday Bowl Marathon in San Diego, Calif., in 2:45.

"It was an Olympic qualifying year and there were a lot of great runners in that one," Swaim said. "I hit a wall at about the 10-mile mark and staggered in."

"I've yet to not hit that wall," Swaim said of the three marathons he's run over the past 17 years. "Running a marathon - and especially Boston - is just a way of being able to do something in a way to break the wall. Some people climb mountains, some people compete in Ironman events. Kyle and I run marathons."

For Pifer, running with 20,000 others (entries are capped) in Boston has been a dream.

"I'm excited. It's always been a goal. I ran road races, and marathons were just the next step," he said as he looks ahead to what will also be his fourth marathon.

Pifer ran cross-country in high school and was a thrower in college. "I've heard all the jokes," he said about being a thrower with a "runner's" body.

Swaim's goal is to run a 2:45. "I want to run like I'm 23 again, except without the pain this time," he laughed. Pifer's goal is 3 hours or better.

Swaim said he's been averaging about 60 miles per week while in training, while Pifer said he's been averaging 50 miles per week for the race that will be televised on the OLN cable channel beginning at 8:30 a.m. Pacific time. OLN is channel 31 on Spokane's Comcast cable system. Swaim will be wearing bib number 1519, Pifer 4057. Results can be tracked on the web at http://www.bostonmarathon.com.

Both marathoners depart Saturday.

Will they run another marathon after Boston?

"Ask me Tuesday," they said in unison.

Spokane Entrants In the 109th Boston Marathon

Bib     Name                   Age     M/F City     State Country  Ctz
2260    Betts, Dave F.          21      M  Spokane   WA    USA
12388   Bumann, Barbara J.      51      F  Spokane   WA    USA
15378   Esch, Pamela J.         43      F  Spokane   WA    USA
11699   Greer, Catherine L.     39      F  Spokane   WA    USA
6195    Guenzel, Carl F.        37      M  Spokane V.WA    USA
9339    MacGillivray, Andrew D. 53      M  Spokane   WA    USA
9420    Marr, Chris             50      M  Spokane   WA    USA
5545    McCarthy, Craig D.      45      M  Spokane   WA    USA
8887    Nelson, Roger B. Jr.    45      M  Spokane   WA    USA
4057    Pifer, Kyle C.          28      M  Spokane   WA    USA
8070    Stoehr, Wendy K.        46      F  Spokane   WA    USA
1519    Swaim, Kevin            40      M  Spokane   WA    USA
11851   Swanson, Gunhild        60      F  Spokane   WA    USA     GER
16554   Swanson, Jack W.        71      M  Spokane V.WA    USA
5670    Wilcox, Bryce J.        40      M  Spokane   WA    USA
7813    Yost, Cory              46      M  Spokane   WA    USA