3 Stillwater Runners To Race In 125th Boston Marathon On Monday

STILLWATER, MN — Three runners from Stillwater are set to compete Monday in the 125th Boston Marathon. It will be the first in-person edition of the iconic race in two and a half years, after organizers were forced to cancel the 2020 event due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Among the roughly 20,000 runners who qualified for the race are Stillwater residents William Bernard, 38; Robert Dado, 56; and Joel Kaul, 62.

The 125th edition of the Boston Marathon was originally scheduled to be held in April 2020, but the Boston Athletic Association delayed the race until September 2020 before canceling it amid the ongoing pandemic.

The 2021 Boston Marathon is set to be one of the most competitive races in its 125-year history, as organizers slashed the field of runners from 30,000 to about 20,000.

That meant runners had to be almost 8 minutes faster than the original qualifying cutoff time to be invited to the 2021 race.

Runners who qualified for the 2020 Boston Marathon before the pandemic started were not allowed to defer until 2021. The cancellation also extended the qualifying window for the 2021 race, giving runners more than two and a half years to post their best times.