Experience key for PU marathoner
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Jon Keller’s first attempts haven’t always gone as planned, but his subsequent endeavors have a way of working out.
The Princeton University senior hopes that holds true again when he joins more than 20,000 others in running the Boston Marathon on Monday.
”I wanted to do it, especially after my experience last year of enjoying it but knowing it could have been better,” said Keller, who finished in 2 hours, 48 minutes, 6 seconds despite warmer conditions than anticipated. “The weather is unpredictable, but I wanted to give it a shot. With my last year in school, I knew I’d have the flexibility and time to train. I have done my best to put myself in position to run a PR in Boston. I feel I can if I’m able to run.”
The economics major has finished his thesis, but suffered a setback to his final race preparations when he tweaked his ankle dancing two weeks ago. No apparent setback has bothered him before. If anything, he has been encouraged by each of his running experiences.
Keller came to Princeton from Shoreview, Minn. A bout with mononucleosis as a senior at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis cost him a chance to be recruited by PU. Nonetheless, he tried out for the PU men’s cross country team but did not make it after being hampered by IT band syndrome. He took nine weeks off to heal, but also failed to make the track and field team.
”After I got over IT band syndrome, I came to the (Princeton) Running Company,” Keller said. “I just wanted to keep running and pushing myself.”
His first run with the Nassau St. store’s Thursday night running group was a hilly 10-miler that began on the towpath, then wound up Herrontown Rd. before coming down Mt. Lucas and back into town.
”I was hammering it,” Keller said. “It was one of the best feelings in the world to be able to run again and run that hard. I remember being pretty naive about what the run was like, what the hills were like and when they were going to end. The next summer, I trained hard, but a little more conservatively.”
Keller was rewarded when he made the Tigers cross country and track and field teams as a sophomore. He trained harder with the team, but not as long as he had on his own. Ultimately, with a new commitment as president of the Princeton Evangelical Fellowship, he decided to return to training on his own and pursue the marathon.
”I’ve always liked longer distances,” Keller said. “I figured I might as well give that a shot. I knew I probably wouldn’t contribute to the team. I thought my best chance to enjoy running and keep doing it was not to be on the team.”
Instead, Keller trained all summer and into the fall for his first marathon, in Dublin, Ireland. He finished in 2:45:21, good for 69th place overall, despite flying overnight one day before the marathon.
”It was my first trip across the Atlantic,” he said. “I was not used to sleeping on planes and I was so excited to be going over there. I was up for 38 hours straight until I went to bed early that night before the race and slept like 12 hours. It wasn’t ideal for the marathon.
”That first marathon, I was running 6-minute miles in a pack. At 17, a guy broke away and I was feeling good and I tried to go with him. By 19, I was feeling it.”
Keller thought he could have finished faster with a smarter race, but he was hooked after his first marathon.
”I knew I really liked it,” he said. “During the early miles, I was saying to myself, this is what God made me to do — to run marathons. It was good. I was pretty encouraged by the time. I was hoping to run under 2:40, but given the circumstances and since it was my first one, I was happy. I definitely wanted to keep doing it. It made me want to do it again and run it smarter and be in good shape.”
His finish time was well under the 3:10 qualifying standard for his age group at Boston. Keller ran with a friend, Kyle Smith. The experience was unforgettable – both the good with the throngs of spectators and the historic course and the bad with a lobster-red sunburn and slow final mile after an unevenly paced first 15 miles.
”I was not happy with how that one went,” said Keller, despite averaging 6:25 per mile for a 2:48:06 clocking. “It was a great experience. I was pleased with the crowd. I could hear the Wellesley (College) girls from a half-mile before and for a half-mile after. And (see) the Citgo sign. I wish I had run smarter. I think I’ll be much smarter.”
Last fall, Keller returned to his high school for the Twin Cities Marathon. He ran a personal-best 2:44:27, this time hampered by gusting 30-mile per hour wind in the middle of the race. Ten weeks later in December, for fun, he ran a 2:52:52 at the Honolulu Marathon while accompanying Smith.
That same month he completed his second year-long term as the Princeton Evangelical Fellowship president. Now four months later, he has secured a consulting job with Mackenzie and Co. back in Minneapolis, turned in his thesis and set his sights on heeling from his dancing mishap in time for his second Boston Marathon, one that will include American Olympian marathoners Ryan Hall and Brian Sell. Keller will be there too.
”I think each race has been good,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve had ideal conditions yet. It hasn’t worked out yet. Maybe this injury has helped me taper the best. I feel like I’ve had really good training. The pace and workouts I’ve been able to do showed I’m in really good shape.”
All that’s left is to show it on Marathon Monday.

