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Boston Strong: ITD’s Allen runs to marathon mecca

A good runner typically deals in one of three forms of currency – stride, stamina, or will. Sometimes a runner possesses neither a mile-eating stride nor has freakish endurance, but excels anyway.

Steve Allen, a motor vehicle investigator in District 5, falls into that category.

Allen stands 5’8” and is not blessed with particularly long strides. He does not enjoy Sherpa-like endurance, either. However, for some, the ability to push through and keep moving forward can trump those other qualities. Such is the case with Allen.

Allen, who began working at ITD in 1993 as an hourly employee in Bridge & Building, ran for the Highland High School track team (the one- and two-mile runs) and ran on the Rams’ cross-country team in Pocatello more than three decade ago. However, when school ended with graduation in 1980, life and career intervened, and running was put on hold. In the years that followed, he ran off and on — mostly off.

“No amount of money”

All of that ended when his daughter, Amanda, decided to begin running as she entered the seventh grade.

“She was tiny (she’s only 4' 10" today) and I didn't want her running around on her own,” says Allen.

The two-mile warm-ups, the 10-mile runs, the hill work — it all struck a chord with him. But nothing weighed as heavily as the opportunity he saw to strengthen the bond with his daughter. Decades removed from his last race, Steve found himself lacing up the old running shoes once again.

Pictured to right: Steve and Amanda enjoy a run together May 11.
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It was brutal at first. Seldom-used leg muscles and lungs unaccustomed to exertion were forced back into active duty. Soon, muscle memory kicked in and he found the rhythm of the road all over again. One- and two-mile jaunts fraught with pain morphed into six- to 10-mile runs fueled by endorphins.

Conversations ensued, and the topic turned to goals. Curiosity slowly became resolve as father and daughter discussed the 26.2 miles of the typical marathon.

Best of all, the bonding that Allen sought began to occur as the miles rolled by.

“I started running with her every day. She is so happy all of the time, and I wouldn't trade any of our runs for any money,” he said.

As a senior in high school, Amanda decided that she and her father would run a marathon after she graduated. They chose the Pocatello Marathon.

The goal of that first one, in 2011, was just to survive and finish. The goal then became about time. More specifically, qualifying time.

Next stop: Boston

Boston is the gold standard of marathoning. It is one of the oldest races in the country, drawing thousands of runners each year.

To qualify to run the Boston Marathon, you have to run a specific time for your age group at a Boston Qualifier marathon.

Steve needed to run a time of 3:30:00 in order to qualify. In 2013, he ran three marathons in one month trying to reach that mark. He ran Mesa Falls in Island Park in 3:45:28 and the Pocatello Marathon 3:39:52. In the final one, Top of Utah, in Logan, Utah, he ran a time of 3:28:16 to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

Pictured below: Steve and Amanda at the Top of Utah Marathon in 2012.

Elation turned to heartache when told he couldn't run the Boston Marathon in 2014 because he'd qualified too late — he needed to qualify before Sept. 1, and the Top of Utah Marathon didn't run until Sept. 21.

Fortunately, his qualifying time allowed Allen to enter this year’s marathon, his sixth. Amanda still hopes to compete someday, but has not qualified thus far.

In the last month before running in Boston, Allen ran 28 miles during the week and 22 to 25 miles on Saturdays.

“I wore out a pair of shoes just getting ready for the marathon,” said Allen. “I sprained my ankles three times, tore a muscle in my left hamstring and one in my right calf.”

Weighing the price

Steve and Jenaé have four children: Dan, 25; Amanda, 22; Zac, 19; and Joe, 17. Steve took everyone to Boston.

“We had not taken a family vacation like that before and it was nice to have them there. I have worked for the transportation department for 21 years and never felt I could afford to take my family on a trip like this,” he explained.

“I finally decided that the memories were worth the debt,” he said.

“There are really good restaurants all over and there is a lot to see. It would take a month to see it all,” he said.

“We did take the train to New York City for a day. Boston is very clean, but New York is dirty and the crowds were crazy,” he explained. “Everything is very expensive.”

That’s OK, he reasons, because “I can’t retire for nine years anyway,” giving him ample time to recover financially from the trip.

The race

Allen’s preparation started in Pocatello as District Engineer Ed Bala outfitted him with a shirt and hat to represent the department in Boston.

“Steve has an important job – to ensure vehicles are properly titled and dealers comply with all requirements. As you might imagine, this requires a lot of customer-service focus, where Steve excels,” said Bala.

“He brings that same kind of focus to his passion for running. I’m continually in awe of his training regimen, his dedication, and the way he involves his family members. I’m proud to be associated with him.”

Thousands of runners jockeyed for position as the participants surged forward at the gun.

“There were so many runners and I had to be careful not to step on other runners’ feet or cut someone off,” said Allen.

The four waves of runners featured eight corrals of 1,000 runners. That’s 32,000 runners.

Allen ran in the middle of the group, surrounded by runners of the same skill level, so the crowd around Allen never thinned out.

He made a critical mistake early on: “It was 38 or 39 degrees in Hopkinton (a community next to Boston) so I figured it would only get warmer as the day progressed,” he said.

“I discarded my sweats — a BIG mistake!” he said wistfully.

Soon after, it started to rain hard during the run and the head wind picked up to 20 mph at some points.

“The wind came off the ocean and got colder as I got closer to Boston,” Allen explained.

“I ran around eight-minute miles for the first 16 or 17 miles,” he said. Then fatigue and cold took hold.

The homestretch

Allen had to slow down for the remaining miles.

“The last two miles or so, I was going slow and shivering,” said Allen. “At the finish line, the wind was really blowing and I was soaked. Some people reported getting hypothermia, and I'm not sure I wasn't one of them,” he said.

“I must have looked beat, because volunteers helped me open bananas, cliff bars, etc. I don't think I could have done it on my own, because I couldn't feel my fingers or pull my phone out of its case to call my family,” he explained.

“I don't have negative feelings at all and would run it again,” Allen said. But, I would watch the weather better!” he explained.

Allen wanted to run the race in under four hours, and he ran it in 3:47:51.

“I feel good about my efforts, but I think that if I was warmer, I might have run close to 3:30.”

“The people were great! The runners were friendly and courteous, the volunteers (all 9,000 of them) were awesome, the crowds cheered for everybody, and townspeople gave real respect to anyone who ran the marathon,” Allen said.

Community strength

Several bombs detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in April 2013, killing three people and injuring more than 260.

In the wake of this tragedy, an anthem arose to describe the resolve and attitude of the surrounding community: “Boston Strong.” Allen said that spirit remained two years later.

“I didn't see much damage from the bombings,” said Allen, “but the Old South Church displayed the banner from 2013, repaired and redisplayed in honor of those injured or killed in the bombings.”

“After the bombing, the banner hung in front of the church for eight days with police tape blocking entrance to the crime scene. The banner was tattered and torn like the community.”

“The repaired banner represented the presence in the community. Boston is strong! The community so strongly supported the runners and the marathon,” Allen explained.

Allen said the streets teamed with cheering crowds and the college students cheered like crazy, handing out beer and something mysterious in little white cups.

“We would say, ‘Thanks, but no thanks’ and they would respond that we looked like we needed the beer,” he said.

“The children lined up for miles to high-five any available runner. I gave hig- fives and the kids’ faces would break out in huge smiles that lifted the cold and helped me go the next mile.”

“I am amazed at the good will of the event that brought 26 countries, 50 states, Puerto Rico and American Samoa together in friendship, and representing all walks of life. I saw blind runners with guides, and people with artificial limbs returning from 2013,” he said. “The event was awesome.”

Not-so-secret formula

“My best asset?” Allen said. “I don't know. I just put one foot in front of the other until I cross the finish line.

Is it a long stride, endurance, will? The answer sounds deceptively simple: Just…keep…moving…forward.