Athlete of the Month: Nashua's Cantara is a world beater

Dec. 5—Thomas Cantara wanted to set a personal-best time when he ran the Chicago Marathon in October.

The 32-year-old Nashua resident achieved that and then some.

Cantara finished the Oct. 9 race, his 20th marathon, in 2 hours, 36 minutes and 28 seconds. The time was both a personal best and a world-record mark for a Special Olympics athlete.

Cantara, who has Asperger's syndrome, said the Special Olympics has told him the time is a world-record mark for this year and is researching to confirm that it is an all-time Special Olympics world record.

For his performance in the Chicago Marathon, Cantara was chosen as the Union Leader Apple Therapy Services/Bedford Ambulatory Surgical Center/Express MED October Athlete of the Month by the New Hampshire Union Leader Board of Judges.

The 2009 Nashua South graduate placed 263rd overall among a field of more than 40,000 runners.

"I had a goal in mind — to run a sub-2:40," Cantara said. "When I got about halfway, I looked at my watch and I was about 1:18 1/2 . I just told myself, 'Just play out the second half and see what happens.'"

After the halfway point, Cantara did not check his watch again until Mile 20 and did not expect to learn he was still under the two-hour mark. At Mile 25, Cantara checked his watch one last time. It read 2:28.

"I was like, 'Wow, I did a lot better than I thought I was going to do,'" Cantara said of when he saw his final time at the finish line. "I was really surprised. It was a great day and a great course and everything just came together."

Cantara began running marathons in 2012, when he lost about 80 pounds and got inspired by watching Boston Marathon coverage on TV. He joined the Gate City Striders running club that year and has been a member ever since.

Cantara, who has participated in numerous Special Olympics sports, also ran with the Greater Derry Track Club in 2015. Training with the club's coach, Brandon Newbould, made Cantara the runner he is today, he said.

While Cantara usually trains for 20 weeks ahead of a marathon, he had only 16 weeks to prepare for Chicago after returning from the Special Olympics USA Games in June in Orlando, Florida, and a subsequent COVID-19 diagnosis. Cantara competed in track at the USA Games, running in the the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter runs and the 4-by-400-meter relay.

Cantara said his COVID case cost him one week of training and he only had cold-like symptoms.

"I don't recall having any problems at the beginning of my training," Cantara said. "Because I did some running in Orlando and I only took a week off, I jumped back into it pretty easily."

Cantara said he prepared for the marathon by running 6-mile tempo runs, doing cross-training days in which he ran one-hour stints on an elliptical and increasing his usual training mileage from 18 to 23 as Chicago got closer.

When the race began, Cantara felt rested, prepared and comfortable. His approach throughout Chicago was to just focus on how he felt and gradually pick up the pace after the first mile.

"It's actually the first marathon where I had a faster second half than first half and that's what I'm really proud of is my training really came through in the race," Cantara said.

Cantara concluded his first trip to Chicago with an authentic deep-dish pizza before flying home the night of the race.

His next marathon will be his sixth Boston Marathon in April. Cantara placed 644th with a time of 2:42.39 in this year's Boston Marathon and wants to finish in 2:34 or faster next year.

"My goal is to simply up my tempos because that's been the thing that's really bettered my times is just going a few seconds faster a mile on my tempos," Cantara said. "That seems to be making all the difference."

Other athletes considered for the October award were Portsmouth Christian Academy cross-country runner Brianna Malone, Gilford High School field hockey player Aly Pichette, Plymouth State University field hockey player Taylor Healey, Nashua South boys soccer player Santiago Somorrostro, Exeter High School golfer Jascha Johnston and Bow High School football player Hollis Jones.

Malone, a senior, won her third consecutive NHIAA Division III cross-country championship by finishing the Derryfield Park course in 19 minutes, 15.6 seconds on Oct. 29.

Pichette, a senior forward, logged 14 goals and six assists over unbeaten Gilford's last four regular-season games and three-game playoff run to the NHIAA Division III title in October.

Healey, a junior forward from Campton, recorded 12 goals and three assists over Plymouth State's 6-2 end to the regular season in October.

Somorrostro, a junior forward, tallied six goals and seven assists as Nashua South went 5-1 in October over its final six NHIAA Division I regular-season games.

Johnston, a sophomore, won his second straight NHIAA Division I individual golf championship on Oct. 13 at Bretwood Golf Course in Keene with his 3-under-par 69 score.

Jones, a senior running back, rushed for 398 yards and five touchdowns on 46 carries over Bow's 5-0 October run to end the NHIAA Division III regular season. At linebacker, he posted 15 tackles, including one sack, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery that month.

Previous 2022 winners: January, Jackson Marshall, Hooksett (basketball); February, Brooke Paquette, Hudson (basketball); March, Geo Baker, Derry (basketball); April, Kyle Maurice, Exeter (baseball); May, Nate Fletcher, Greenland (outdoor track and field); June, Kristen Beebe, Brentwood (softball); July, Brandon Gillis, Nashua (golf); August, Julianna Megan, Hooksett (golf); September, Eli Bahuma, Concord (football).

To submit a nomination for future Athlete of the Month consideration, email the Union Leader Sports Department at sports@unionleader.com and enter "Athlete of the Month" in the subject line.