Blake to Run in Elite Field at Boston Marathon
Central Connecticut cross country and track and field head coach Eric Blake is among a field of more than 140 elite runners for the first fall edition of the Boston Marathon to be run on Monday, October 11. The Boston Athletic Association and John Hancock Financial jointly announced the field in advance of the 125th running of the world's oldest marathon.
Blake among 29 USA men running in the elite field. He has a career-best time of 2:22.49, which he ran at Sacramento in 2018. The field also includes 27 international male runners, 11 of which have career-best times under 2:07. (FULL ELITE FIELD)
As head coach at CCSU, Blake has led the Blue Devils to 12 cross country championships and another seven track and field titles. An accomplished runner for Central as an undergraduate, Blake has been a member of eight USATF Mountain Running Teams and is a four-time winner at the Mount Washington Road Race. He has competed at the Olympic Marathon Trials and set a world record in 2006, running a marathon on the treadmill in 2:21.40.
BOSTON ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION - BOSTON MARATHON INFORMATION
The race could not hold an in-person event in 2020 due to the pandemic, but will return to its traditional 26.2 mile route from Hopkinton to Boston. Entrants in the 125th Boston Marathon will need to either provide proof of vaccination or produce a negative COVID-19 test in order to participate in the fall race. Masks will not be required while running but will be enforced on participant transportation and in accordance with local guidelines. Organizers in cooperation with state and local authorities are permitting a field of 20,000 runners, and up to 70,000 more will run a virtual edition of the race. An $876,500 prize money purse will be on offer, the second largest in the history of the race.