Ex-Wave runner breaks school marathon record

Tanner Boone had his eyes set on running a marathon all season.

When the time came and he crossed the finish line at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Gulf Shores, Ala., the junior long-distance runner and 2013 Fallon grad accomplished his three goals but got a nice surprise as well. He cracked the top 15 and came five spots shy of becoming an All-American.

“Overall, my junior year in track was pretty good,” said Boone, who competes at the University of Great Falls (Montana). “Many ups and downs, but I was more focused on the marathon than any event that was actually on the track even though it is fun to run fast in quicker events like the 1500 (meters) and 5K. I set many goals and accomplished ones for the half and full marathon, but I wasn’t completely satisfied for many of the events shorter than 13.1 miles.”

Entering last weekend’s marathon Boone wanted to finish the race, break the school record and finish in the 2-hour, 40-minute range. Boone managed to achieve all of his goals even during the heat and humidity as he finished the race 13th. He broke the school record by running the 26.2-mile marathon in 2:47.38.

“It never even occurred to me that I might be able to crack the top 15,” Boone said. “I owe a lot of my success in this race to my coach, Bill Brist, because since I qualified, he helped me realize how I needed to run the race and helped me come up with a good game plan.”

Brist told the school website he looks forward to Boone returning next year and placing in the top eight.

“I think Tanner learned a lot about the event and will plan to make it back next year to aim for one of those top eight spots,” Brist said.

Training for his first marathon, Boone kept it simple by running more miles during the track season. But Boone reserved his Sundays for the longer runs.

“The Sunday long run is a typical part of any distance runner’s training plan so I was used to that, but I did many Sunday long runs from the two hour to three-hour range,” he said. “These runs helped my body in many different ways and I gained a ton of confidence from them.”

Boone has one more year left before graduation as he embarks into cross country in the fall followed by track in the winter and spring seasons. Boone’s looking at the school records in several events, including the 1500, 3000 steeplechase, 5K and 10K, as well as helping the rest of his team succeed.

“I am really eyeing the school record for the half marathon,” Boone said. “When it comes to the marathon, I want to attain All-American honors and obviously better my time. Along with helping myself improve, I want to help many of my teammates qualify in the marathon next year. I think we have many talented team members that have what it takes to be successful in the marathon.”