Stoner runs 2:28:43 to place seventh in elite women’s field and contribute to impressive showing for Reebok Boston Track Club at The Marathon Project in Arizona, including Hehir winning and Bennie placing third in men’s competition

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor/Photos by Chuck Utash

The day after her debut at the 26.2-mile distance competing at The Marathon Project in Chandler, Ariz., Paige Stoner said she had never experienced soreness after a race like she did Sunday.

But despite the discomfort in her quadriceps, the Syracuse graduate and Reebok Boston Track Club professional athlete was still all smiles after becoming the fastest female marathon performer under age 25 in American history, along with celebrating the first- and third-place performances in the men’s race by teammates Martin Hehir and Colin Bennie.

Stoner, 24, finished seventh in 2 hours, 28 minutes, 43 seconds in one of the deepest marathon fields ever held on U.S. soil, with four American women running sub-2:26 in the same race for the first time in history.

The previous fastest women’s performance by an American Under-25 competitor was Cathy (Schiro) O’Brien running 2:29:38 to win the Los Angeles Marathon at age 23 in 1991. Clara (Grandt) Santucci is the only other U.S. female athlete to eclipse the 2:30:00 barrier before age 25, clocking 2:29:54 as a 24-year-old competitor in Boston in 2011.

THE MARATHON PROJECT WEBCAST REPLAY | RESULTS | PHOTOS

“It was certainly really special when I saw that (note). Just thinking about all of the women that have run the marathon, it’s just really neat, and people like Molly Seidel doing it so early (making her debut in February at the Olympic Trials at age 25, before running 2:25:13 at age 26 in October in London), that partly inspired me and gave me some confidence,” said Stoner, who ascended into the top 35 overall marathon performers in American history on any course.

“Yes, it helps to be maybe in your early- to mid-30s and have years of mileage behind you, but someone like her has proven that doesn’t have to be the case to run really well at this distance.

“Hopefully other women who are my age or just a little younger are able to look at what I did and that will give them the confidence to think the same way, if they do have those marathon aspirations, they don’t have to feel like they have to hold off until their 30s, because we can do it now.”

Stoner, who ran the 14th-fastest marathon debut in U.S. history, also recalled an exchange of text messages with Reebok Boston Track Club coach Chris Fox in the spring that foreshadowed her performance, despite the longest race in her career at that point being a 15-kilometer road event in March in Jacksonville, Fla.

“He sent me a text back in April after a long run,” Stoner said. “He hadn’t really been giving us any specific instructions, just saying, ‘Maybe come back a little faster,’ and then he heard how fast we came back, so he sent me a text later and said, ‘2:28 coming soon,’ and again that was in April.”

Stoner had run 71:53 in her debut Oct. 28 at the Michigan Pro Half Marathon to finish fourth. Her longest training run prior to Sunday was 21 miles, and her highest volume weeks in preparation for her marathon debut were 105 to 110 miles.

But despite significant pain in her quads during the last few miles, Stoner not only managed to finish, but join seven other female competitors in earning the Olympic standard – running under 2:29:30 – and being among a group of 12 women to eclipse the 2:30:00 barrier.

“I don’t know if I would have made it 27, but I made it 26.2,” Stoner said. “Ultimately that’s kind of what was slowing me down towards the end, was just how badly my quads started to hurt. I kept anticipating when aerobically I would start fatiguing, and that was never really the case. I was feeling really good, miles 20-23, I think, were my fastest, and I started picking it up a little bit, and then around mile 23, my quads were just done.

“They started hurting pretty badly, at that point, and it was pretty much as soon as I crossed the line, I was having a hard time walking around.”

Stoner ran her two fastest 5-kilometer splits of the race by clocking 17:31 from 31 to 35 kilometers, and 17:25 from 36 to 40 kilometers, but she was still trying to be cautious about saving enough strength and energy for the final 4.26-mile loop of the race after hearing plenty of stories of veteran athletes struggling at the end of marathon races.

“There was so much unknown of those last few miles. I didn’t panic when I saw those splits were a little quicker, because I did feel so good, but I was consciously trying to make sure that I maintained that effort,” Stoner said. “When we went through the fifth bottle station, that was around mile 20, and, at that point, we were down to the one pacer, for whatever reason, when I got my bottle that time, he ended up a little bit behind me, and then, at that point, I kind of made the decision I’m not going to slow down to get back behind him, or join up with him again, so I kind of unknowingly started to pick the pace up a little bit from there.

“The next time I looked down at my split, I was surprised it was a little bit quicker, but at that point, I was still feeling really good, so it was more so just trying to maintain an effort, I wasn’t necessarily trying to speed up.”

But Stoner received some timely encouragement with less than five miles remaining when Fox and assistant coach Adam Smith shared the news of Hehir (2:08:59) and Bennie (2:09:39) both placing in the top three, elevating to the Nos. 7 and 13 performers in American history.

“I think it was around mile 22, I saw Fox and coach Smith and they said, ‘Marty is going to win and he’s going to run 2:08 and Colin is right behind him,’ and obviously that really lit a fire in me and I was so pumped to hear that,” Stoner said. “I saw them a little bit later, and they said that he won, so that really helped me get through that last 5K. I was ecstatic for them and just proud to be part of the coach Fox group.

“I’ve been looking up to Colin and Marty since the day I got to Syracuse. They were just examples of how to do it right. To have that culture carry over to our Reebok group and to continue to have that relationship with all of them is super special.”

Stoner also gained plenty of inspiration from Hehir and Bennie finishing sixth and ninth, respectively, at the Olympic Marathon Trials in February in Atlanta, and looks forward to competing in another 26.2-mile race in the future in one of the traditional American events, such as Boston, Chicago, Houston or New York. But Stoner also realized how the event was organized Sunday and having a closed, looped course with flat terrain throughout was the ideal setting for her first marathon experience.

“I’m looking forward to having a ‘real’ marathon experience in a big city with a crowd, but I was also appreciating how special (Sunday) was, and how for half the race, I was just sitting behind two men who were clicking off 5:40s and I could totally turn my brain off and the weather was perfect and it was a totally flat course and I didn’t have to worry about a big hill coming up or anything,” Stoner said. “In a lot of ways that did make it a little less scary and just a little easier to relax and go for a ride.

“I was able to kind of get an idea of what was going on the whole time, but it was really neat looking over and watching it all go down and knowing that history was happening. It was super special. I couldn’t think of a better way to debut.”

Stoner doesn’t anticipate competing again until March following a lengthy break and proper recovery, and she isn’t in any hurry to return to marathon training, especially with opportunities to improve her track resume in the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and 3,000-meter steeplechase leading up to the U.S. Olympic Trials in June at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

But the experience gained from running against four of the top 15 marathon competitors in American history in Sara Hall, Keira D’Amato, Kellyn Taylor and Emma Bates, along with international standouts Natasha Wodak of Canada, Sarah Inglis from Scotland, as well as Andrea Ramirez Limon and Ursula Patricia Sanchez Garcia from Mexico, will all prove valuable for when Stoner does test her strength and endurance again in the future against another elite field.

“I think I’ll just be more confident knowing I can cover the distance and have a little better gauge energy wise and just in terms of effort and expenditure. I’ll probably feel a little more comfortable maybe picking it up earlier on and it just won’t be that fear so much of that last five or six miles and what can happen,” Stoner said. “Obviously, I think no matter how experienced you are at the distance, you still have to respect that it is a very long race. I’m very grateful for the experience and I think it was an awesome way to get to debut because it was such a controlled environment and while I was out there, I was thinking about that a lot.”

During her brief conversations with Fox following Sunday’s race, the topic of Stoner’s future potential in the marathon was discussed. Much like he was confident eight months ago in her ability to run 2:28, Fox projected that Stoner could improve by five minutes before the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials.

“He said, ‘We’re going to be in 2:23 shape by then,’” Stoner said. “Obviously, you know a lot has to go right over the next couple of years to make that kind of progression, but I know that it’s certainly in the cards, and it’s super exciting to think that I could be in the running for making a team in 2024. Most of these women have a decade of experience on me, so it is crazy to think about what I could possibly be doing five to 10 years from now. It’s very encouraging.”

If Bennie, Hehir and Stoner can remain healthy and continue their progression, there could be three Reebok Boston Track Club athletes in contention for berths on Olympic and World Championship teams for the U.S. on the roads and the track in the coming years. As strong an indication as Sunday was for Fox’s athletes, it could only be the beginning of them having a significant impact on the future of American distance running.

“The coach Fox program is very strength-based, so even though we’re all excited to get on the track and work on improving our speed, I imagine we’re still going to do plenty of long tempos and long fartleks, and good, solid long runs because that’s kind of where we make our bread,” Hehir said. “That’s our sweet spot.”