No Boston Marathon for Bulone, but that’s OK

Newport Harbor High wrestling coach Dominic Bulone competed in the OC Marathon Sunday, finishing in three hours, 41 minutes, and 21 seconds.

Bulone was the 143rd runner to cross the finish line in the 26.2-mile race out of 1,040 finishers. Assistant coach Josh Ready ran a half marathon in 2:18:33. Wrestlers Josh George and Eddie Garcia also joined Bulone for five miles. Bulone spent six months training hoping to qualify for the Boston Marathon with a time of 3:15:59 or better.

However, Bulone said he started too strong, and was running about 27 seconds per mile faster than he should have been running.

“By the time I was at mile 19, I still was on pace, but I had to slow down because I had no more to give,” Bulone said.

Still, he said not qualifying for Boston was a mixed blessing.

“I remember having this feeling the first time I ran,” Bulone said. “It got to a point in the race that I knew I wasn’t going to make it, and I was bummed and relieved at the same time.”

— From staff reports