THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 21, 1996 TAG: 9604180170
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
DIANE BARBER probably trained harder and was more mentally prepared for her 10th marathon than any other race she'd ever entered.
And she ran her slowest time ever.
But that's to be expected of someone who has just taken part with a record 40,000 runners in the 100th anniversary of the Boston Marathon.
Barber, who turns 39 this month, is one of the few female runners from the Albemarle area who qualified for the centennial run of the world's best-known road race.
``It was tough,'' she said by telephone Tuesday, the morning after completing what is generally considered the biggest race in a runner's life.
Her unofficial time of 4 hours, 34 minutes was not quite as quick as the 3:42 at the 1995 Shamrock Marathon that qualified Barber for the New England event.
``That was fine with me,'' Barber said. ``I wasn't out here to do any kind of record.''
Except for the Olympic trials, the Boston Marathon is the only 26.2-miler requiring entrants to beat a qualifying time to enter.
But because of this year's historic significance, race officials held a lottery to allow everyone a chance to run. They originally expected 25,000 runners and ended up officially hosting 38,706 - more than four times the usual number.
Because she had qualified, rather than winning a place by lottery, Barber got to start with other fast runners. Still. . .
``It took me 40 minutes to get to the starting line,'' Barber said. ``I didn't even hear the gun or any signal that the race had begun.''
With that many people in the field, Barber said she had to use defensive running techniques and run at a slower pace. ``There were people surrounding me the entire time,'' she said. ``I was never without worrying about being elbowed or getting stepped on.''
Her family couldn't be prouder. ``She just did terrific,'' her husband, Al Barber, an Elizabeth City physician, said just a couple of hours after the race.
Last Monday's crowded conditions are a stark contrast to Barber's training grounds near her home in Weeksville.
The Barbers live in a large house along the Pasquotank River that includes an exercise room, in-ground swimming pool and plenty of rural roads to run or cycle on.
Farmers often wave as Barber coasts by their fields. And she's gotten to know a lot of the dogs in the area, too.
``The biggest hazard - there are no shoulders on the road, and lots of times people don't realize they should slow down in their car,'' she said. ``I guess they just don't realize how close they get to you.''
The Columbia, N.C., native became a ``fair-weather jogger'' eight years ago but then switched to a more serious mode a few years later.
Now the hardest part of Barber's running, which typically includes 40 to 50 miles weekly, is trying to take it easy.
``I actually have to keep myself more motivated not to run,'' she said the day before she headed to Massachusetts, having tapered from her training high of 70 miles in a week.
In addition to five Shamrock Marathons in Virginia Beach, Barber has run marathons in Bermuda, Charlotte, Richmond and Washington, D.C. Her finishing times range from her qualifying 3:42 to the slowest at 4:05. Three times now she's run exactly 4:02.
It took her three tries to qualify for the Boston Marathon, and when she finally broke the 3:45 time needed for her age group, Barber burst into tears.
``I couldn't remember if it was 3:40 or 3:45, and I cried,'' she said. ``I thought I'd missed it again.''
Unlike the training schedule for most of those races, for the Boston marathon Barber ran three 21-mile runs - rather than her usual 18- or 19-mile daily maximum. She also used weights for a stronger upper body form.
The training paid off. Not only did she tackle the tough course - the last three miles, she said, ``were all mental'' - but she still felt good physically the next day.
``I'm just really relieved,'' she said. ``There was a little more pressure with this one, just because so many people knew I was coming.''
Among them were the couple's blended family of four children: Karen, 18; David, 15; Amber, 13, and Dane, 10.
``My hope is that I've shown that you can accomplish a goal,'' she said before the race. ``Boston seemed impossible to me eight years ago. If nothing else comes out of this, I hope I've shown it can be done.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by ISLAND PHOTOGRAPHY
Runner Diane Barber's unofficial time of 4 hours, 34 minutes in the
Boston marathon was not quite as quick as the 3:42 she ran at the
1995 Shamrock Marathon to qualify for the big race.
by CNB