Fazioli has bigger goals ahead for marathoning

Apr. 20—BOSTON — Sam Fazioli appreciates the "atta boys" he received on Monday and Tuesday.

The 30-year-old Derry, N.H., resident finished 43rd overall with a personal record at the Boston Marathon, 2:24:17, his eighth attempt at the prestigious race.

But in reality, up to three days before the race, he had set his sights on qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trails marathon before 2024.

That qualifying time is 2:18:00.

He ran a 2:19:48 at the Houston Marathon three months ago.

But ... and there's a big but, Fazioli was taught a lesson, a harsh one, about the most recognized road race in the world.

"I've run Boston a bunch of times, but I always forget how tough it is," said Fazioli. "There are non-stop ups and downs. There's like only two or three sections where there is a constant pace. and downs aren't steady, they're roller-coastery, which is hard on the quads."

There was an added hurdle a few days before the race when the supposed tail-wind was changed by forecasters to becoming a head-wind.

"I knew then that it probably wasn't going to happen," said Fazioli. "It was good weather to run, a little cool, but the head-wind was there every step of the way. I realized at the 5K mark that it wasn't going to happen."

Fazioli's journey to elite runner is different than most.

His sport in high school was baseball. In fact he was a pretty good catcher for Salem High until he saw a teammate Josh Treff catch.

"He was as smooth as they come," said Fazioli. "He could transfer the ball, from glove to hand, like nobody I'd ever seen. I basically realized the only way I would play was change positions."

As a student Northeastern University, took up running, semi-casually, as he was bored not playing a sport.

Ironically, as a baseball player in high school he was often replaced for a pinch runner, because he says he was chubby and slow.

"I joined the club team at Northeastern and that's where I became addicted to running," said Fazioli. "We would watch the Boston Marathon while at school. I remember saying I want to do that some day."

After college, Fazioli decided to take running to another level, joining the Whirlaway Running Club. Before moving to Brighton for work and joining a club in Boston, he met Jackie Solimine, a star runner at Haverhill High and UMass Lowell with Whirlaway.

His running career took off and in late 2020 he was married.

Now he's shooting for the moon when it comes to running.

Fazioli owns the record in the Manchester (N.H.) Marathon and New Hampshire Marathon. Last year he missed the Bay State Marathon record by 10 seconds.

While a marathon in the fall, preferably one without hills, is on his docket, to possibly get under 2:18:00, the Mount Washington in June is on deck.

The 7.6-mile trek is freakishly, unrelentingly uphill with no flat or downhill recovery stretch.

Fazioli placed fourth last year.

"The guys that beat me were pure mountain guys," said Fazioli. "I'm taking this one real seriously. Near where we live in Derry is Warner Hill Road, which is super steep. I'll be doing a lot of running on that. Being a New Hampshire native, I take a lot of pride in that race. I'm hoping to compete for a top spot."

You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.