Nicole (Newby) Kastens, a Douglas High graduate, finished at the Boston Marathon on Monday.
Their performances would’ve been respectable for any marathon, even under ideal conditions.
Given the rain, wind and cold that challenged runners on Monday in the 122nd annual Boston Marathon, Gregory Carman and Nicole Kastens were downright excited.
Carman, 35, of Genoa, completed the 26.2-mile course from Hopkinton to downtown Boston in an official time of 2 hours, 56 minutes, 15 seconds that ranked as the third fastest of all entries from Nevada. He was the 1,149th runner to cross the finish overall.
Kastens, 41, a Carson City resident and Douglas High School graduate (Nicole Newby), ran 3:36:44 in her third Boston Marathon journey. Though slower than the 3:24:31 she ran in 2015, Monday’s achievement was truly special.
“It rained in 2015, but this year was so different,” said Kastens, who now manages the Sierra Training Systems gym in Carson City. “So much more rain, for every single step, and the crazy winds and low temps. I’ve never been more proud to earn that (Boston Marathon) medal. I was thrilled with my time in that race.”
Carman, who grew up in Northern Nevada (University of Nevada graduate) and now owns Clear Creek Dental in northern Douglas County, ran an overall pace right around 6:44 per mile. He was even faster from the start — a brisk 40:22 for the opening 10 kilometers, 1:26:25 for 13.1 miles and 1:21:49 for 20 kilometers. Even late in the race — passing up and down famed “Heartbreak Hill” — he clocked a 42:59 split between the 30- and 40-K markers.
His time at the halfway mark, interestingly enough, was two seconds faster than his second-place half-marathon effort at the 2016 Lake Tahoe Marathon.
Other local area runners who completed Monday’s race included Esther Kendall, 30, of Truckee, 3:24:29; Dale Hogan, 39, of Incline Village, 3:44:32; and Jim Kaplan, 49, of Incline Village, 4:39:19.
More than 30,000 entries were on hand for the race, including nearly two dozen Olympians.
Yuki Kawauchi of Japan emerged as the men’s winner in 2:15:53 and Desiree Linden became the first American woman to win at Boston since 1985 with a time of 2:39:53. Linden, 34, finished seventh in the marathon for the U.S. at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and also ran at the 2012 Summer Games in London.
