Lakes Region runners in Boston Marathon mix

Local entrants in April 18’s Boston Marathon

Carlton Mendell, 83, Windham, 28th Boston Marathon

T.J. Hesler, 36, Steep Falls, 5th Boston Marathon

Robin Dressel, 41, Windham, 4th Boston Marathon

Tom Noonan, 33, Steep Falls, 1st Boston Marathon

Sometimes, the numbers tell the story.

There are split times, pace times, finish times, finish places, personal records, age group standings, number of “Bostons”, number of marathons, training miles per day and week, and on and on. Talking about marathons is a bit of a numbers marathon in itself.

Four people from the Lakes Region are all qualified to officially run in the 109th running of the world’s oldest annually contested marathon. All took different routes to the Patriot’s Day race starting in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and ending 26.2 miles later near the Prudential Building in downtown Boston.

Mendell is a spry 83, and he moves easily for an octogenarian. He candidly says that he started running to help battle an alcohol problem. That was 38 years ago and he is still running and is still not drinking.

For this group of Maine runners he is clearly the most experienced. With 27 “Bostons” behind him he knows what each inch of the course holds for him. Though he has never been injured in his running career, Mendell says he has not always finished every race.

“Once, in the New York City Marathon, I was shaking with a bad chill,” said Mendell. “I stopped at a coffee shop. Of course I had no money on me. They gave me coffee, but I was shaking so much that an elderly woman had to hold the cup to my mouth. There was a young girl with a running injury, who stopped also, and she showed me how to use the subway to get back to Central Park. That is my favorite marathon. I love the crowds and the race through the Burroughs.”

Mendell had an insurance career, a military career, a football career and has a running career. He played football in high school, college, and some semi-pro and professional ball as well. Mendell served in the Air Force in WWII and stayed on to retire as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserves. He moved to Maine in 1950, and now lives in Windham with his wife Clara. No one in his immediate family is a runner, though he has a grandson who shows some interest.

“Boston is the toughest marathon,” says Mendell. “That last 10,000 meters with no flat spots are rough. I just want to finish and enjoy the running and the runners. I am not a competitive runner. My goal is to break six hours this year. I don’t have to qualify anymore, because there is a special group of us that have run for 25 years. The times are waived for us.”

Mendell is well suited to the 26.2-mile course. He has also run 24-hour races called “Ultras” and has run 100 miles in 17 hours and 125.5 miles in a 24-hour period. This Monday’s run will make 160 total in Mendell’s career.

T.J. (Thomas John) Hesler is the fastest of the four entrants. He ran a 2:39 at one marathon. The Boston record is 2:07:15 set by a Kenyan in 1994. The goal this year is to finish and Hessler, coming off an injury, predicts a more modest time somewhere between 3:10 to 3:30.

Hesler, who teaches at Massabesic High School, and coaches basketball and track, said, “In my second marathon ever, I wanted to break three minutes. I had to really push myself. I finished in 2:59:50-something, but I felt sick. I was puking, and they took me to the hospital to recover. I felt so sick that I never wanted to run again. After the first bag of IV, I thought I might just jog sometime again. After the second bag I thought maybe I could do some short races. After the third bag I figured I could do a half-marathon in the future, and by the time the fourth IV was finished I knew I was going to run “Boston.”

Hesler and his wife Christine have a newborn at home. The baby complicates training times, because Hesler feels guilty about leaving on Saturdays or Sundays to be gone for three or four hours. Christine also marathon races though, and has run a 3:43. She obviously understands the lure for her husband.

Robin Dressel, the lone female qualifier in the four Lakes Region entries, ran her first marathon in 1989. She only worries about the weather.

“I don’t care what the temperature is,” said Dressel. “If it is cold I will dress for that. If it is warm I will dress for that. I dread the rain though. I am shooting for 3:51. My best marathon was in Frankfurt, Germany when I ran a 3:11.”

“I train six days a week with one day off. I do a lot of cross-training with hiking, weights and a stepper-machine. I start gearing for the marathon in the last two weeks, and get up to 20 miles, said Dressel.

Tom Noonan is a “Boston” rookie. Noonan ran in high school where he finished a respectable 12th in the Maine Class B Cross Country State Championships in 1989. But even with a running history, Noonan has not found this an easy road.

“I am not a fan of getting up early in the morning and going out to run,” said Noonan. I train with T.J. Hesler though, and we push each other. We run 35 to 50 miles a week. I have two small children at home and it is hard to take the time from my family to train. It is especially hard to be gone on the weekends and leave my wife with the kids for a block of time. T.J. is more competitive than I am. I just want to enjoy the experience and finish the race. I want to soak in the crowds.”

Jen Noonan, Tom’s wife, jokingly says her husband still has to tell people he was not running a race in Cape Elizabeth when his second daughter was born in February. Jen was only having contractions on February 6, the date of the “Mid-Winter 10-Mile Classic,” and besides the baby was not due until February 18th.

Perhaps the most famous Mainer to have run the course is also a two-time winner. Joan Benoit Samuelson, from Freeport, won “Boston” in 1979, and again in 1983, just one year before winning gold in the first women’s Olympic Marathon in Los Angeles.

Winning “Boston” is special, but out of the 20,331 runners this year, it is safe to say that most will not be looking for the trademark wreath placed on the winner’s head at the finish line. Two runners from Steep Falls, and two runners from Windham will be looking toward their same stated goals. They all said they want to finish, and they want to enjoy the race. They want to experience the camaraderie of running in the oldest and one of the most prestigious races in the world – The 109th Boston Marathon.

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