Hebda to run Boston Marathon
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
When Phil Hebda goes out on a long run that takes him far away from Princeton University, where he is graduate student in the physics department, he can picture himself back in his native Indiana.
”If I go north to Skillman Road, it’s not a major road, it reminds me of home,” Hebda said. “It’s the most rural area I’ve found. It allows you to see so far. It reminds me of running at Purdue or at home.”
Growing up in Indiana, Hebda wasn’t running such long distances. There was no reason to until he shifted his running focus in college.
”I started in high school running competitively,” Hebda said. “In high school, it’s all about 5k and in track, the mile and two-mile.
”When I went to Purdue, I wasn’t good enough for the team. I spontaneously started transitioning to the marathon. I ran a marathon in my first year and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
On Monday, Hebda will enter the Boston Marathon, his first time at what will be the 115th running of the world’s oldest annually contested marathon.
”It wasn’t really a goal,” Hebda said. “It’s more that I’m living in the area so I’m close. I know of its history and prestige. That’s why I’m doing it. The last three years, I went to school at Purdue. I was at Indiana and didn’t have the time to make it out here.”
Hebda has the time now. He’s in his first of two years at Princeton.
”I’m in the physics department,” Hebda said. “I’ll be here for two years, then do research abroad for three years near Geneva, Switzerland.”
In between his studies, he has made time for his running, and he has learned some the area by exploring it on long runs.
”I’ve found plenty of nice things in the Princeton area,” Hebda said. “Mercer Park, I like running there. I have like a 20-mile loop and goes through that park.”
And the run through Montgomery gives him a look at the Jersey countryside, the closest thing to his Northwest Indiana hometown in the suburbs of Chicago.
The training runs have helped prime him for the Boston Marathon. Qualifying for it has not been an issue for Hebda, who was an instant qualifier, well below the 3:10 time standard for his age group, even on his debut marathon. He completed the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati in 2007 in 2 hours, 47 minutes, 57 seconds, an average of 6:24 per mile.
”I went into that one not knowing anything,” said Hebda, who is now 23 years old. “I ran 2:47. I was very surprised with the result. I was shooting kind of low. I was hoping to maybe break 3 hours. After the cumulative effect of training, I’ve seen a lot of improvements over the years.”
In October, 2010, Hebda ran a new personal-best for the marathon when he finished sixth at the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, Pa., in 2:36:09.
”Hopefully the times can keep going down,” Hebda said. “Who knows? I’ll keep on racing, and we’ll see. I’ve done Cincinnati three times.”
Hebda has put together a long training plan since he began working toward Boston in November. He trained through the difficult winter weather while balancing his studies at Princeton. With less than one week to go, Hebda is in the final stages of his taper.
”It’s always tough to peak for a certain day,” he said. “This is the time where I start to doubt myself, but I have faith in my training.”
Like he did at Purdue, Hebda has found the Princeton University club team which offers some training help. At Purdue, it the running club gave him a start, but marathoning helped his running take off.
”My first year, I did the competitive aspect with the run club,” Hebda said. “Around November, I was looking ahead and there was nothing to look forward to. We didn’t do any track races. I wanted to look for something. I wanted to have a goal. I like to have something train for. It was sort of spontaneous. I did it without ever having run 15 miles continuously. I signed up for the Cincinnati Marathon on line, and I started training in January (2007).”
The rest, as they say, is history. He has improved each time he’s run the Flying Pig Marathon, and has also run the Chicago Marathon. This coming fall, he’d like to try the New York City Marathon and down the road, he’s hoping to take a shot at some European marathons.
”I do think I’m more suited for the longer distances,” Hebda said. “I’ve always felt like I lack in speed. Even today, I’m trying to work on that. My strength is in the longer distances. That being said, speed is what will determine how far I can go in the marathon. As I improve, I’m approaching my 5k pace for the marathon. I haven’t run a real 5k in a long time, but I’m approaching the pace I used to do for 5k in the marathon.”
Hebda is looking to lower his personal best on Monday when he joins 25,000 runners for the Boston Marathon.
”If the conditions are great, I’d like to go under 2:35,” he said. “I think that’s reasonable judging how I’ve done in my most recent races. In terms of place, I don’t know who’s going to show up. If I could do top 100, I’d be ecstatic. I always run my own race. If I get top 100, that’d be really neat.
”I would like to go under 2:30 long-term,” he said. “I really don’t think I could do the Trials (qualifier of sub-2:20) because of my speed. But 2:30, maybe it’s too far out there, maybe it’s doable. Back when I did my first and second, I thought it’d be awesome to go under 6-minute pace.”
His standards, along with his mileage, have steadily increased through the years. Phil Hebda is looking forward to his latest challenge, as he takes a day away from his studies at Princeton to go for another personal best in the world’s oldest marathon Monday.

