The Boston Marathon is not for sissies. With rigorous qualifying requirements, Boston’s entrants are among the world’s running elite. Jeff Alvey, VPS architectural technician for over 21 years, completed his second Boston event this year and, at the same time, set a personal marathon record best.

The second largest single day sporting event in the world, behind only the Super Bowl, the Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon. With the exclusion of the Olympics and various championship races, Boston is the only marathon in the USA that maintains strict qualifying times and running requirements. The requirements generally state that a runner must have completed a qualifying marathon within the year and a half before the upcoming Boston Marathon event.
The first qualifying event for Skinner Alvey was the Memphis Marathon in 2007, which qualified him for his first Boston Marathon in 2008. This year, on April 21, Jeff participated in the 113th running of the Boston Marathon, finishing with a time of 3:11:10, placing him 2,925th overall out of the 22,849 finishers and 450th out of 2,178 in his age division. This was Jeff’s fifth marathon, second Boston Marathon and a personal record.

The 2009 Boston race highlights included third place finishes by both an American male and female (Ryan Hall and Sara Goucher, both Olympians) for the first time since 1985 and four-time Boston Marathon winner Bill Rodgers, now 61, running his first Boston in a decade. Jeff’s personal highlight of the trip was meeting and talking with American distance runner and 1972 Olympic gold medalist Frank Shorter. “Shorter is a living legend,” said Alvey.

Skinner’s marathons include the two Boston Marathons, plus Chicago, Memphis and the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. Jeff’s running accomplishments are truly amazing, and all at VPS are proud to know him.