Photo by Sam Chandler.
Vestavia Hills resident Matt Ennis completed his first Boston Marathon in April. He had been trying to qualify for the prestigious race for a few years.
Matt Ennis has come a long way over the past seven years.
In 2011, shortly after the birth of his second son, he went on his first run. It lasted only half a mile, but the satisfaction he experienced afterward convinced him to lace his shoes up again.
Ennis, a 40-year-old Vestavia Hills resident, hasn’t stopped running since — save for the few times he’s been injured.
Recently, he reached a milestone.
Ennis in April completed his first Boston Marathon, clocking a time of 3 hours, 37 minutes and 23 seconds.
“I feel like I got the whole Boston experience,” he said, discussing his trip a week later. “It’s 26 miles of nonstop cheering and screaming.”
The Boston Marathon, held annually on Patriots Day, is widely regarded as one of the world’s premier footraces. A small group of professionals vies for a prize purse, but most of the approximately 30,000 entrants pursue personal achievement. And for recreational runners like Ennis, few achievements compare to competing at Boston.
What separates the race from its peers is the entry barrier that doesn’t exist at most other road races. Runners must meet a difficult qualifying standard— referred to as a Boston qualifier, or BQ — if they want to toe the starting line.
Ennis chased a BQ for a few years before finally breaking through last September. He notched a personal best of 3:07 at a marathon near Seattle called Light at the End of the Tunnel.
He had to dip under 3:10 to qualify for Boston.
“I was super, super nervous,” Ennis said. “When I finally did it, it was amazing.”
Ennis achieved his goal with the help of Alex Morrow, a local coach who owns Resolute Running. Ennis approached Morrow about becoming one of his trainees after falling short of a BQ at a marathon in 2017.
Ennis had been running under his own guidance up to that point; hopping on board with Morrow became a turning point.
With his coach’s tailored training plan and the encouragement of running partners, Ennis dropped his time.
He logged more than 60 miles per week throughout the summer ahead of his race, with long runs extending up to 20 miles.
One workout toward the end of his marathon training cycle — a 12-miler at a 7-minute pace — elevated his spirits.
“That was this huge confidence boost,” he said. “At the end, I knew I had a little more in me.”
Ennis turned his long-awaited trip to Boston into a family vacation. His wife, Amanda, and two sons, John Bryant and Will, joined him, as did his father and brother. They took a pitstop in New York City and attended a Red Sox baseball game before the big race.
“It’s a huge sacrifice for my family, too,” Matt Ennis said of his marathon preparation. “They supported me through all the trials and tribulations.”
Ennis weathered warm temperatures on race day as he trekked from the start in Hopkinton to the finish on Boylston Street. He knew around mile 18 that he would finish slower than he wanted, but that didn’t take away from the joy of crossing the finish line.
“I definitely had some tears in my eyes,” he said.
Ennis has now completed six marathons and has more in sight. Already, he has contemplated making a sub-3-hour attempt at this year’s Light at the End of the Tunnel race.
He also is requalified for next year’s Boston.
“It’s not like anything else,” he said.
