Qualifying in the Boston Marathon is quite an achievement, but one local woman makes it seem easy.
Patty Klinghagen competed in her fourth Boston Marathon on April 17, 2017. She ran previously in the Boston Marathon in 2001, 2008, 2015, and again in 2017. Klinghagen is an avid runner, and the Boston Marathon is special to her, “It’s my favorite, it’s really meaningful. It’s the longest running marathon. This year was the 121st.”
She added that the exclusivity adds to the appeal, “It’s the only one you have to qualify for besides the Olympic Marathon.”
According to information on running.competitor.com of the 550,000 annual marathon finishers in the U.S., only 12 percent run Boston qualifying times.
At this year’s Boston Marathon Klinghagen said it was very meaningful to see Katherine Switzer run again. In 1967, Switzer became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon as a numbered entry. Klinghagen said that in 1967 they tried to get Switzer off the track because she was a woman, and now seventy years later to see her run again was inspiring.
Klinghagen has competed in 38 marathons and finished an Iron Man competition last year. Her training ebbs and flows she said, but running has always been a part of her life.
She grew up around here and ran for Lennox High School and ran cross country at Black Hills State.
“It’s the one thing in my life that has been a constant,”
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