Caught up with Peter Gilmore the other day, although we should note he cooperated when he stopped running.
Ba-dum-pum!
Gilmore was still in recovery mode Thursday at home in San Mateo, three days after he took seventh place and set a personal record by finishing the Boston Marathon in 2 hours, 12 minutes, 45 seconds. (That's a 5:04 mile pace. Your lungs may proceed to burning.)
It was an enormous breakthrough for Gilmore, 28, who took up marathon running four years ago after a cross-country and track career at Cal. His previous best was 2:14:02.
For his efforts, which included thousands of miles over six months of training, he received the biggest payday of his career.
Nine thousand dollars.
``It's like two cents an hour or something,'' he said.
Ba-dum-pum!
Gilmore was part of the biggest story coming out of Boston: the resurgence of American marathon running that included five U.S. men in the top 10, the best showing since 1985.
To Gilmore, it looks like the beginning of a new American era. For two decades there hasn't been a career path for distance runners unless they got a big shoe contract. Now, many of the elite live and train in Michigan, where the Hansen brothers and the Brooks shoe company have set up a program that allows runners to live rent-free and work at jobs that fit their training schedules.
But Gilmore's still here. Formerly a substitute teacher, he recently took a job with an investment research firm in San Francisco; he can work from home with more flexible hours and a bigger training budget.
After he ran four marathons in a 12-month span, injuries were becoming a problem, so he cut back to two a year. He also added more intensity to workouts -- recovery runs at a moderate rather than easy pace, for instance, and adding hill work ``to beat up my legs and really get 'em strong'' for Boston.
It paid off. He let the leaders go out at ``suicide pace'' and stayed back -- yet he still got to the halfway mark at 65 minutes, way faster than he had ever done. Most of the lead pack paid a dear price for being too aggressive, and Gilmore kept moving up.
He finished 10th in 2005 and seventh in 2006. Now, how low can he go?
``If I just made these changes in the last two or three months, what happens if I put the whole summer in?'' he said. ``For the first time I can honestly envision myself running under 2:10 in the marathon, whereas before, I could say it but I couldn't really see it happening.''
So, attention, denizens of San Mateo.
``The Boston Marathon is a big public event, but the normal guy doesn't even know who I am,'' he said. ``My neighbors don't know I'm a professional runner. I'm just the only guy they know who works out twice a day.''
Contact John Ryan at jryan@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5266.