Southside grad to run first Boston Marathon

James Garner likes to say his story is somewhat "boring." After running a race, the 1997 Southside graduate and Fishers, Indiana, resident will stay back and talk to other finishers. He's heard stories about runners who overcame cancer before getting on the course. He's met runners who faced health problems due to obesity, only to use running to lose weight and establish a healthier lifestyle.

He often feels his personal story pales in comparison, but it will gain a new chapter Monday. Garner will be running in his first Boston Marathon, which has start times ranging from 8:50-11:15 a.m.

Garner was a wrestler at Southside who ran cross country to get in better shape for his winters on the mat. He describes his cross country career as successful, but he was always primarily focused on wrestling. When he got to college, Garner continued running as a way to stay in shape.

He decided to try the Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis several years ago, though he didn't do much training. He enjoyed the atmosphere, and it inspired him to become more serious about running. He entered other races of various distances. He liked the 13.1-mile distance of the Mini-Marathon, though, and never thought much of running a full marathon until the bombing at the 2013 Boston Marathon.

Garner decided that day that he wanted to run a full marathon, and specifically the Boston Marathon.

"The community of runners is one of the most strong-willed, and we're not going to be pushovers," Garner said. "And to see the whole running community that day, come together and bond and just say 'You know, you're not going to do this to us. We're not going to be scared, we're not going to back down.' And as a whole, since that happened, the interest in Boston has gone way up."

But to get to Boston he would have to qualify. Those who wish to participate in the Boston Marathon must meet age-specific qualifying standards as they run another marathon.

The next step was signing up for a marathon, and Garner chose one in Des Moines, Iowa, in the fall of 2013. Garner's time in Des Moines met Boston's criteria, but he still had more than a year to wait before he could run the iconic race.

The Boston Marathon has a yearly deadline in September for runners to post qualifying times for the following year's race. Garner's October 2013 performance allowed him to run the 2015 Boston Marathon, but not the 2014 edition.

So Garner has spent the intervening time running other marathons and improving his times, running the Carmel Marathon and the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in 2014. He said the Monumental was the first marathon that he properly prepared for, and the results showed. He ran a 3:08:26 at Des Moines to earn his Boston qualification, then ran a time of 2:55:50 in the Monumental Marathon. For runners in Garner's 35-39 age group, 3:10:00 is the qualifying standard for the Boston Marathon.

Garner said he had set a goal of breaking three hours at the Monumental Marathon, a benchmark in the marathon world.

"That was my goal," he said. "And to beat it by four minutes, I was ecstatic."

Garner said his goal for Boston is to set another personal record. Others he's talked to, though, have told him to focus on just enjoying the experience rather than running a specific time.

He is looking forward to the crowd, which he's heard is raucous for the runner who wins the race, the one who brings up the rear and those in between. He suspects it to be quite a contrast from smaller races in Indiana where spectators are scarce.

It will also offer the possibility of connecting with more runners, with interesting stories of overcoming adversity to join Garner on the course.

"To me, that's way more inspiring than my story of just being a good athlete who fell into something," Garner said. "So that's what inspires me, I think."

Contact prep sports reporter Sam Wilson at (765) 213-5807. Follow him on Twitter @SamWilsonTSP.

ECI Boston Marathon entrants

Based on cities of residence in marathon directory

•Christopher Day, Yorktown

•David Grasso, Albany

•Joseph Hamilton, Muncie

•Lauren Shirey, Middletown