With Olympic Trials in mind, Princeton's Colin Bennie elects to skip Boston Marathon

The past two Boston Marathons, Colin Bennie has graced the event with top-20 performances, including a top American finish, seventh overall, in the fall of 2021.

But in 2023, his training clock for the next U.S. Olympic Trials is ticking, so this year's Boston times out for the former Wachusett Regional standout. Bennie, who hasn't run a marathon since placing 19th in last year's Boston, is training through this April.

"I'm focusing on other aspects of training," Bennie said last week from his new home base of San Francisco. "I'm taking in some shorter-distance stuff for now, maybe a half marathon in there. But I am disappointed to take a step back from Boston."

Bennie, however, and longtime coach Chris Fox thought it best to concentrate on shorter races, including no fall marathon, before building up for the Trials, set for next Feb. 3 in Orlando, Florida.

This Sunday has Bennie competing at the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in Washington, in the 50th anniversary run of the D.C. race, and his summer road races are expected to include the Beach to Beacon 10K Aug. 5 in Cape Elizabeth Maine, then the 7-mile Falmouth Road Race two weeks later.

Both events are favorites of Bennie, who last year placed seventh at Beach to Beacon (29:38) and 10th at Falmouth (33:04), both at better than 4:50 per-mile pace. He has run Beach to Beacon three times, and has placed in the top 10 at the last three of his four performances at Falmouth.

"These events would fit this year," Bennie said. "It's always tough to say no to adding those to the schedule. When you're running well, it's hard to say no."

"Last summer, I worked on getting a lot of my fitness back where I wanted it to be," he said. "My training hadn't been clicking as it had in the past."

Bennie, who was a repeat NCAA finals qualifier in the 10,000 meters in outdoor track while at Syracuse, would like to post a personal best in the event but currently has no plans for the track this year. "I'd only use the track as something to do to see benefits in my marathon training," he said. "Though I still believe in never say never."

The strategy of racing through the summer but not as a buildup for a fall marathon has its merits, one Bennie and Fox considered carefully. Fox has coached Bennie for 10 years, beginning when the latter enrolled at Syracuse, then through the Reebok Boston Track Club, and now remotely one-on-one. "He's told me you could tempt fate a bit and risk burning out," said Bennie, who's 100% on board with the assessment.

"We're texting now and then," Bennie said. "We've been doing this long enough with him to know what the training looks like."

Bennie, whose first marathon was a ninth-place finish (2:11:26) at the 2020 Olympic Trials in Atlanta, remains confident in his long-range approach.

"Taking time away from the marathon may be taking me from a rhythm, but I'm putting together two years of particular training toward an end goal," he added about pursuit of an Olympic marathon berth for Paris 2024.

Bennie worries not about what will be a nearly two-year hiatus from a 26.2-mile race, away from the game-day experience of matching strides and wits with the world's finest marathoners.

"To race a marathon is a different beast, to put all the eggs in that basket," he said. "The physical and mental energy that it takes. I don't think I'm worried about falling behind."

Bennie, who turns 28 this summer, continues to enjoy the West Coast life, after moving to the Bay Area with girlfriend Abbie McNulty last year.

"There's no shortage of stuff to do out here," noted Bennie, a former high school hockey forward who took in two San Francisco Giants games last season but has yet to take the trek to nearby San Jose to catch those skating Sharks, while pulling for those Bruins to take the Cup. "There are plenty of trails north of the city, a whole different environment — a different flavor to the same thing."

And of course there's their miniature daschshund Louie, who has become "a California dog through and through."

Over the past several months, Bennie has secured stability from the business of professional running, which had temporarily lapsed following his departure from Reebok Boston.

Last year, he hired agent Josh Cox, who works out of Southern California, and in January signed a sponsorship deal with Brooks, which provided salary, travel expenses and gear, "exactly what I need to perform at a peak level."

While Bennie isn't planning on a fall marathon, he'll be providing support at one for McNulty, a former standout for Bishop Feehan, Stanford and Reebok Boston who'll be seeking a U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying time for Orlando.

Bennie may not be competing in Boston this time around, but he'll be following closely from afar, indicating a return sometime soon to running in marathon's granddaddy of them all.

"I want to be there," he states with promise.

—Contact John Conceison at john.conceison@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @ConceisonJohn.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Princeton's Bennie to skip Boston Marathon to focus on Olympic Trials