St. Paul youth worker takes on Boston Marathon

VICTORIA BARBER

May 09, 2008 at 11:25AM AKST

Residents of St. Paul have lately witnessed an odd wintertime sight, galloping through snowdrifts piled higher than trucks and against 60-70 mile per hour winds.

It’s Osvaldo Escarate out for his daily run.

"People in St. Paul thought I was crazy, I think, because they’d see me out there in the blizzards," Escarate said.

It’s been Escarate’s first winter in St. Paul as a Tribal Youth Program coordinator, but in addition to adapting to a new life in a remote community, Escarate was in training for a marathon. The Boston Marathon, no less, one of the most elite running events in the world.

"I think that after the Olympic marathon, it was the most sought-after marathon for a runner," Escarate said.

The Boston Marathon is known as the "people’s Olympics" because it is so selective amateur runners may work their entire careers to qualify. Runners who are 35 to 39 years old must have a finishing time of no more than three hours, 15 minutes if male and 3:45 if female.

Escarate qualified with a minute to spare when he finished the 2007 Mayor's Marathon in 3:14.

"I was pretty excited because that was my first full marathon and I qualified for Boston," Escarate said. "That’s when I started training."

But unlike most of the 58 Alaskans in training for Boston, Escarate did not have the benefit of groomed trails and high-tech athletic facilities. Every day Escarate donned gloves, cleats, thermal pants, goggles and sometimes snowshoes to train on the gravel roads of St. Paul, during one of the most severe winters in recent memory.

He could have worked out on the treadmill at the St. Paul school gym, but Escarate said that he preferred to tough it outside with the elements.

"Wind was more of a problem than cold, but I guess you can look at it as resistance training," Escarate said. "I didn’t want to be inside ... running outside is a therapeutic activity."

"I think it helped me because when I went to Boston I was ready to run in any weather, whether it was rain or snow or windy or sunny, I was going to be prepared because I’ve done St. Paul," said Escarate.

Still, Escarate knew the race would be challenging. The weather would be warmer than what he was used to, and he’d been nursing an injured hamstring since the previous summer.

On race day, Monday, April 21, Escarate began at a conservative pace. He knew he would have to start slow to avoid blowing all his energy at the beginning or exacerbate his injury. Nevertheless, around mile 24, Escarate hit the wall.

"I was reaching downtown Boston it started to get really hot, and that’s when I started to feel discomfort," said Escarate. "And that’s when I started to see other runners stopping."

"I really wanted to finish the marathon running, I knew I could do it, it was just a matter of keeping up mentally."

What pulled him through to the finish line was the cheering of the thousands of spectators.

"You feel like a rock star, especially when you get to the Wellesley section and thousands of college girls are cheering as loud as they can, you can hear it before you get there and it get louder and louder and louder and louder," he said. "They were calling my name, I was wearing a shirt that said Ozzie from Alaska, and giving me high fives."

Escarate finished the marathon, running slower than he had hoped at 3:21, but happy.

"It gives me motivation to do the Boston Marathon again," he said. "I definitely left knowing that I want to return."

Running the Boston Marathon after training in the Pribilofs is just the latest feat for Escarate, who has been getting outside to explore ever since he was a young boy growing up in Chile.

"When I was a kid I was always biking, hiking, collecting tarantulas and getting in trouble with snakes and stuff like that," Escarate said.

Escarate is hoping to share his enthusiasm for outdoor activity with his new community by starting a running club for young people on St. Paul.

"There is a community concern about lack of outdoor activity and physical activity," Escarate said. "There are a lot of kids who play a lot of video games, watch television and listen to rap music and they don’t get out that much."

"Running is a very peaceful activity," he said. "If I have issues or problems I go for a run and when I get back I feel much better."

Victoria Barber can be reached at (907) 348-2424 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 424.