Chris Osiensky
Considering the toll injuries and illness had taken on Chris Osiensky’s marathon ambitions the last four years and the profound disappointment of a Mayor’s Marathon title that slipped from his grasp last summer, he was seriously due some tailwind-type love from the running gods.
Osiensky got just that earlier this month, when his training and persistence carried him to a magical marathon result.
The 27-year-old former Palmer High runner who now lives in Anchorage didn’t just set a personal record for 26.2 miles at the California International Marathon, he absolutely shredded his previous standard.
Osiensky clocked 2 hours, 26 minutes, 57 seconds to finish 76th overall. That result lopped an astounding 9:41 off his previous best of 2:36:38, which he noted came in the 2017 Humboldt Bay Marathon in California. (What Osiensky did not note in his email: That he won that race. Kudos for modesty).
In any event, Osiensky said his preparation for CIM, a net-downhill course that is fast but still is sanctioned as a Olympic Trials and Boston Marathon qualifier, led him to believe a breakout race was possible. That was especially the case because he was free of overuse injuries.
“Showing up to the start line of CIM healthy and fit was already a win,’’ Osiensky wrote in an email. “Setting a PR by almost 10 minutes was affirmation of all the hard work I’ve put in over the past four years since my previous PR.’’
Osiensky, who is director of athletics and Boys and Girls Club Alaska and also coaches runners through the Peak Center for Human Performance, said ideal marathon weather – cool – and a conservative yet still ambitious race plan allowed him to prosper. Evidence came in the form of a terrific negative split – he ran the final 13.1 miles (1:12:55) faster than the opening 13.1 miles (1:14:02).
“Exactly how I wanted to,’’ Osiensky wrote. “I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day.’’
Osiensky’s performance also was a sweet bounce-back after finishing runner-up in June at the Mayor’s Marathon in Anchorage. He led more than three minutes halfway through that race and led by well over two minutes with less than four miles to go before cramps seized him. Benjaman Kopecky of St. Louis, Mo., passed Osiensky inside the last mile to win, 2:40:03 to 2:40:53.
This time around, though, Osiensky didn’t slow deep in the race. He closed faster than he opened.
As marathons go, that’s magical.