Local leads American hopes
Princeton’s Bennie the fastest U.S. runner in Boston field
Colin Bennie has an analytical appreciation and a roadrunner’s respect for the grinding 26.2-mile Boston Marathon course.
Bennie, a native of Princeton, Mass., is both the local favorite and the top American in a loaded men’s field that will line up in Hopkinton on Monday morning for the 126th running of the BAA Boston Marathon. There are 12 men in the field that have run a marathon in under 2:06.
“I have spent a lot of time looking at all the hills between video and elevation profiles and trying to remind myself where it is going to hurt a lot,” said Bennie during the BAA’s gathering of the elite professional athletes on Friday morning at the Fairmont Copley.
“There are some spots on the course where I realize that I am going to have the ability to give it a little extra gas and be a little riskier with what I’m doing while knowing I am going to feel good at the end of the race.”
“I have learned where to take advantage of some of the downhills. Other than that, it’s about putting my nose in it and staying with these guys for as long as possible.”
The Boston Marathon returns to its annual Patriots Day assemblage for the first time since 2019, a historic and provincial rite of spring put on hold for 1,099 days by the global pandemic. The Boston Athletic Association and its partners at John Hancock staged an autumn edition of the race last October on Columbus Day.
Bennie made his Boston debut in that race and logged a stellar rookie time of 2:11:26 while completing the trip as the top American finisher and seventh overall. Bennie has a mental blueprint of the ups, the downs and the flats that make Boston the most unique track on the Abbott World Marathon Majors tour.
“Last year I was able to get a look at the course before the race and I think that helped a lot,” said Bennie. “Having run it twice in training and in the race last fall as well, I feel I have a pretty good handle on everything that is going to come.
“Last year was kind of unique because we went out of the slower end of it as a pack. I think I learned a lot from that for my own running and racing.”
Bennie got started as a cross country and track athlete at Wachusett Regional High School in Holden, where he also played hockey. Bennie moved on to Syracuse where he led the Orangemen to the NCAA cross country title in 2015 under legendary coach Chris Fox. Bennie competed the 10K race in 29:56:9.
“I think there is a history of a lot of talented runners in the ACC and I had the good fortune to go to a good school like Syracuse,” said Bennie. “To compete in the ACC was great and we had a lot of good luck and ran really well and had some championship runs there.
“The competition that was there definitely brought me to another level and allowed me to become a better runner than I would have been competing somewhere else.”
Bennie currently trains with Fox for the Reebok Boston Track Club in Charlottesville, Va., and their continued relationship has been mutually beneficial. Bennie finished ninth in 2:09:38 at the 2020 Olympic Trials, has run two half marathons under 1:03, and came in fifth at the 2021 Falmouth Road Race.
Bennie is building toward representing the U.S. in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and another top-10 showing at Boston would be an encouraging step in that direction.
“It’s an exciting year and there are a lot of really talented runners here,” said Bennie. “I’m excited and I’m healthy and I’m strong and ready to give it another shot. And, I’m definitely thinking about 2024.”