The University of Akron Athletics
Gunning For The Finish Line
April 10 | Rifle
April 10, 2002
AKRON, Ohio - It's 26.2 miles. It would take you almost a half an hour in your car to drive it. It runs uphill, downhill and meanders through one of the most bustling cities in the U.S. It is the richly-traditioned Boston Marathon and University of Akron rifle student-athlete Adam Wytko will be one of roughly 15,000 participants attempting to tame this beast of a course on April 15. And his dad, Paul, will be on hand to witness it.
"Making it to Boston has been my goal for the last couple of years," Wytko said. "My dad said if I qualified he would drive me out there, so we are leaving the Friday before the race."
While Boston will be his 10th marathon, Wytko ran his first race just three years ago at the Hoosier Marathon in Ft. Wayne, Ind. Since then he has run races in Ohio, Illinois, South Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and Alabama.
"My goal is to run a marathon in all 50 states by the time I am
30," said the 21-year old junior. "I figure it will take me about
five races a year to reach it."
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Wytko's Boston Marathon qualifying time came last November in the SunTrust Richmond (Va.) Marathon. His time of 3:09:15 was an hour better that his time in his very first race and was just under the Boston qualifying standard of 3:10:00 for the 18-34 age group.
"For most of that run I was at an eight-minute pace, but I knew that I would have to step it up to get the time I needed," Wytko said. "I could see the clock at the finish line and ran the last mile in seven minutes."
Wytko's race-training tactics vary and he tries to compete in a race every few months. Generally he will work up to a 20-mile run two weeks before the race, then begin to taper down, The final week before the event is reserved for rest a couple of short runs.
When Wytko isn't out on a 20-mile training run or studying toward his degree in mechanical engineering you can find him at the UA rifle range with his teammates as a member of Akron's rifle squad. Rifle competition runs in the Wytko blood as his parents, Paul and Judy Wytko, both competed in the sport at Youngstown State and his older brother, Dan, was co-captain of Akron's team this season.
"I didn't want to quit either sport and I knew that if I ran in college I would not be able to compete in rifle," Wytko said. "Rifle gives me more flexibility with my schedule, plus, I felt I had the potential to be more competitive in rifle."
Having already reached one of the most storied races in marathon running, Wytko is keeping his goals for the race simple.
"I was hoping to shoot for a personal best, but with a knee injury bugging me the last few weeks I think a time around 3:25:00 would be doing well."
