Following is my monthly running column, which appeared in the Republican Herald newspaper today.

A good day to watch a marathon is a bad day to run a marathon

The 121st Boston Marathon provided excellent conditions for the nearly one million spectators who lined the historic 26.2-mile route from Hopkinton to Boston’s Boylston Street, but for the more than 26,000 registered runners, temperatures nearing 80 degrees heated by a tailwind meant slower times and plenty of dehydrated casualties at the medical tent.

Mentally, after training for months and logging thousands of miles in all kinds of weather, waking up to summer-like conditions in mid-April can break the spirit of a marathon runner. Goal times are abandoned and the race becomes an exercise in survival.

Many runners wilt beneath the heat, but for three of our local runners, their drive to complete the task — perhaps inspired by their dedication to training and their devotion to helping others — propelled them across the finish line on Boylston Street and earned them the coveted Boston Marathon participation medal.

Last month we told you about Tower City’s Timmy Harner. A little over a year ago, Harner was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. On Monday, April 17, Harner crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon.

Harner has not only beaten the disease and run the Boston Marathon, but he has raised over $12,500 for Team in Training, the main fundraising arm of the Leukemia- Lymphoma Society. On June 9, Harner will be the keynote speaker at a seminar for cancer survivors at the Hershey Medical Center.

If you are booking a vacation and you are hoping for warm weather, consult Minersville’s Father Christopher Zelonis. Father Zelonis has run the past two Boston Marathons, braving warm temperatures each time. He also survived tropical conditions at the Run for the Red Marathon two years ago, when temperatures and humidity levels reached 90 degrees.

Father Zelonis donates his time to the elderly at several area nursing homes, as well as serving as a volunteer at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill.

Schuylkill Haven’s Rick Devaney is a veteran of nine Boston Marathons. He, too, crossed the finish line despite this year’s heat, and he, like Father Zelonis, serves as a volunteer at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill.

Mike Peckman, director of marketing and public affairs at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill, heaped praise on his two long distance running volunteers.

“To think we have two members of our volunteer department who are part of a very special club … those who have run the Boston Marathon,” Peckman said. “We are very proud of the training, dedication and accomplishments of both Father Zelonis and Mr. Devaney for the marathon. We are equally proud and appreciative of all they do for our patients, our friends and neighbors, each and every day here at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill.”

Harner, Zelonis and Devaney are special, indeed. Their drive, determination, and dedication extend to both their race training and to their desire to serve.

                                                    Timmy Harner

BEACH DAY

Winter's icy grip continued to clutch the eastern seaboard into the green month of May. Chilling temperatures, hovering in the low 50s, when the average temperature should hit 70, continued through last week.

Sunday, however, was a great day to go to the beach. Tropical conditions prevailed, with high humidity and temperatures finally reaching the 80s.

A great day to watch a marathon is a bad day to run a marathon.

Two dedicated runners, both of whom I have great admiration and am proud to call my friends, dedicated  the last three months or so to training for yesterday's Run for the Red Marathon, held in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. They had largely good weather for marathon training, with a few warm days sprinkled in. They could hardly be acclimatized for weather more suited to tanning than to running a marathon.

Samantha Snukis, a former high school state champion in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles, and Father Chris Zelonis, a novice runner, who has quickly excelled in the sport and has qualified for the 2016 Boston Marathon, had turned in some of their best training for the race, but yesterday they knew that the 26.2 mile road to the finish was going to be a torrid trek.

Few things are more difficult than running a marathon under hot conditions. Heat produces devastating effects as body core temperatures can rise to near-death levels. World-class runner, Alberto Salazar's body temperature reached 105 degrees at the end of the hot 1982 Boston Marathon. He was immediately plunged into an ice bath to bring his temperature down.

It is very easy to mentally shut down during a hot marathon race. The mind literally asks, "What's the point of this?"

Amid the heat and humidity of yesterday's race, Snukis and Zelonis, who happen to hail from the same small town of Saint Clair, Pennsylvania, (Is there something in the water, or is it the Yuengling beer?) emerged as champions.

Samantha Snukis earned $500 by placing third in the women's division, smashing her personal best marathon time by clocking a 2:55:18.

Father Chris lopped a full five minutes off his best marathon time by hitting the finish line in 3:03:12, placing 4th in his age division.
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The intense heat drove him to the medical tent where he received an IV cocktail, but he quickly recovered.

Sometimes runners make excuses when weather conditions are poor.

Often, competitors pack it in, drop out and run another day.

These two gritty competitors faced the heat and conquered.

They earned complete admiration and praise.

I think it's time for them to go to the beach.

RUN FOR THE RED

Since many of us are currently stuck in the deep freeze, it's time to think about spring races, if, for no other reason, to set some type of goal in orderto get us through the winter doldrums.

To those of you training for the Boston Marathon, don't panic yet. I've been where you are. Simply try to maintain your fitness level through February, and throughout March, don't bother to enter races; rather, concentrate on long runs on weekends of that month.

Yesterday I told you about the Gettysburg North-South Marathon, which will be run on April 26.

If you feel you need a little more time to train, allow me to suggest another fine marathon, held here in Pennsylvania's beautiful Pocono Mountains.

The Run for the Red Pocono Marathon will be run on Sunday, May 17, beginning at 8:00 a.m., with a start at Pocono Mountain West High School, in Pocono Summit, Pennsylvania.

This fast, point-to-point course is a big, little marathon. There is a cap of 1600 runners and 150 relay teams. A 5K also accompanies the marathon and marathon relay.

In 2012, I ran the race, and I loved it.

Don't worry about the race being run in the middle of May. The Pocono Mountains lie at a higher elevation than most of the state, and I would guess that 70% of the largely rural course is covered in shade. The average high temperatures at that time of year are 65 degrees for a high and 45 for a low temperature

You won't get a large number of spectators at the Run for the Red, but you will get dedicated, competent groups of volunteers, and a course that is a net downhill, and is very fast. It is a point-to-point course, with a nice finish on the Stroudsburg High School track.

Entry fees are reasonable, and there are plenty of awards.

Having run this race, I would give it my highest recommendation.

For more information about the Run for the Red Pocono Marathon, visit their website: http://www.poconomarathon.org/