Local runners compete in Boston Marathon

Some of them get up before dawn and hit the streets before everyone else gets out of bed.

Others lace up their shoes in the evening. Some just work in a good run whenever they have a hole in their schedule.

But if you pay attention on your daily commute anywhere in Cape Girardeau, you're likely to see a runner.

There are hundreds of runners in the Cape Girardeau area. Eight of them participated earlier this month in the Boston Marathon.

Boston is the most famous of American marathons. While 30,000 competed in this year's race, the qualifications are rigid, and set for each age group. Just to qualify, you have to put in a tremendous amount of work. There's a significant difference between completing a marathon (a large accomplishment in itself) and qualifying for Boston. In fact, among the running community at large, the Boston Qualifying time is known simply by the initials BQ. It's held in high esteem.

So we congratulate our local runners Mike Burnett, Paul Fliege, Andy Johnson, Ashley Schmittzehe, Alan Barnette, Steven Schmittzehe, Joe Windeknecht and Carol Winter for not just qualifying but for finishing the Boston Marathon. For those who don't know, a marathon is 26.2 miles. For reference, if you started running in downtown Cape Girardeau and ran to Oran High School, you'd still have another 5K to go to complete 26 miles.

There are many men and women of all ages in Cape Girardeau capable of running marathons, or even longer. There are some who enjoy the speed of a 5K, and others who can run 100 miles in 24 hours. We have ironmen and women here. Some are incredibly fast for their ages, and will be looking to break state records, even this weekend. We have triathletes, cyclists and athletes who push themselves to be better. Others simply want to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The running community embraces people of all levels and abilities.

The local race calendar this weekend calls for a couple of 5Ks and a triathlon. Hundreds of people will be out running, if the weather cooperates.

So these eight Boston Marathoners are among the elite runners in the area, but represent just a small fraction of people who love staying fit.

"I feel like it's a tight-knit community we support each other," said Johnson. "We've got runners of all different levels, and we don't look down on people whether they're slow or even walkers. If someone's putting in a good effort, you know, that's the main thing. We're all starting from different levels, but we're all just trying to do the best we can."

Run Cape, run.