Geneva Runner Who Competed In Boston Marathon Already Looks Forward To April's Race

GENEVA, IL — After more than 900 days away, runners returned to Boston for the 125th annual Boston Marathon Monday. The race was unique in a multitude of ways — from being a milestone anniversary to being held for the first time since 2019 — and a runner from Geneva was among the thousands to experience it.

Mark Barnaba might have run 14 marathons in the past, but this year was the first time the 55-year-old ran Boston's 26.2 mile-long course. Reflecting on it afterward, he told Patch it's everything people make it out to be.

"The course is extremely hard," he said. "Physically, I think it was the hardest thing I've ever done. ... It really beats you up, but the spirit of the race, the history, you go through all these towns that as a runner you hear about [was incredible]."

It took the Geneva resident 4 hours and 6 minutes to complete the historic route on Monday. Unlike in 2018 when the weather was anything but kind to participants, Boston's temperature this year cooperated and made for a great running day, Barnaba said.

For the first time in its history, the Boston Marathon was held in October instead of on Patriots' Day in April. Runners ran past trees changing for autumn instead of ones getting ready to bloom for spring. The race was canceled in 2020 and postponed again in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Barnaba said runners were just glad to be back.

"The fact that it was changed from a historic perspective, everybody was just so grateful to be back [and thought], 'Okay, this is some semblance of normalcy,'" he said. "The leaves were starting to change and the colors, so it made the race route even that much more special and that much more scenic."

As a marathon runner, he said he finally understands just how special the experience is of running in Boston. This might've been his first in the Massachusetts city, but he experienced it virtually in 2020 as well, when he was among the participants keeping its spirit alive during quarantine times.

Because of the pandemic concerns that extended longer than many might have expected, about 10,000 fewer people were accepted into the marathon this year than normal, making the running pool even more exclusive. Runners also didn't start at the same time. Instead, people started whenever they got to the start line.

"Everything was unique about it," he said. "Whether you're running Chicago or whether you're running New York next month or whether you ran London or Berlin, I think you're just grateful to be running again. I think everyone's so sick of the virtual races."

When he's not running a marathon or training for one, Barnaba works full-time in talent acquisition and part-time at a local running store.

"I get to hang out with my peeps, as my wife likes to say," he said. "I think I'll always be associated with running, ever since I laced them up and tried going around the block."

The runner has been training for seven years with the prospect of getting back in shape. As he "caught the running bug," Barnaba said he thought about the possibility of running a marathon but didn't ever expect to qualify for the one in Boston.

But he started hanging out with people who loved marathons and often talked about Boston. His competitive nature kicked in, and Barnaba said he set his sights on a new goal.

In his running years, Barnaba has qualified four times for the famed race. It was Grandma's Marathon in Minnesota, run in June 2019, that ultimately sent him to Boston.

October's race might have just finished, but in about three weeks, runners who qualified for the 2022 marathon will already be registering for April's race. Barnaba is among those people.

"Hopefully I'll get in, fingers crossed," he said. "I'd love to have another crack at it."

Of running as a hobby, Barnaba said, "It's changed my life for the better and I almost owe running that."

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