October 11, 2021 holds some significance in the history of the Boston Marathon. With the COVID-19 pandemic still lingering, the historic 26-2-mile race, which was cancelled in 2020 due to the virus, was moved for the first time from its traditional April date on Patriots Day to early fall.
For Nick Ross, that day of Oct. 11 also seemed like the perfect opportunity to check off one of the things on his Bucket List. His first attempt at the grueling distance.
Back in 2017, the former East Greenwich track and cross-country standout suffered the devastating loss of his older sister Allison, who died at the young age of 27.
“I always wanted to run a marathon and wanted Boston to be my first,” he said. “I was looking at the date and got offered the opportunity to run for a charity. That date was also my older sister’s birthday, who passed away a couple of years back. That date meant a lot to me.”
With the memory of his sister as inspiration along with the talent he developed as a runner throughout his career, Ross was able to complete his first Boston in a time of 3:13, despite catching COVID just three weeks earlier. After earning the qualifying standard for last year’s race, Ross raced to his current PR of 2:52 in 2022.
“At first, I was checking my watch and making sure my splits weren’t all over the place,” he recalled, about his initial marathon. “My goal at that point was just to finish. Once I stopped looking at my splits and everything, I kind of took in the race and atmosphere, and all the people cheering. From what the day was for me and my family, it was a pretty awesome first experience, and I think that’s part of the reason I’m still doing them.”
On Monday, Ross will be back for the third time at the starting line in Hopkinton for the 127th edition of the storied race. While his initial goal has been changed somewhat after experiencing a slight hip injury a few weeks ago, the determined Ross is looking for a possible PR performance come Patriots Day.
“I am looking forward to this one,” he said. “I actually hooked up with (head coach) Mark Skinkle of Prout. He has been giving me workouts and they have been going great. (With the hip injury), my training has kind of taken a little hit, but I thank him a lot for writing some of these workouts for me. My training up to this point was better than the previous two (marathons).”
Ross is certainly in good hands with the coaching expertise of Skinkle. During his heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, Skinkle was part of an elite group of sub 2:20 marathoners from Rhode Island that included Hollie Walton, Tom Grundy, Roland Davide and seven-time Ocean State Marathon winner Bobby Doyle. As a member of the Johnson & Wales Athletic Club (JWAC), the current Crusader coach clocked an all-time best of 2:17 and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in 1984.
Along with Ross, Skinkle is also working with Prout alum and girls’ indoor coach Ross McAndrew of Wakefield, a veteran marathoner. The 31-year-old Ross is the first to admit that the marathon isn’t quite his forte, at least not yet.
“The two of them (Skinkle and McAndrew), how this event can be one of their favorite ones, I have no idea. I was talking to (McAndrew) and was like, ‘You’re a psycho. The amount of miles you train. The amount of marathons that you’ve done. I don’t understand it and I‘m envious of that because it takes such willpower and dedication.’ I wish I could put forth that. It’s a helluva thing to train for.”
The marathon was the first of several milestones that Ross has achieved in his running career. The 2010 graduate of East Greenwich was one of our state’s top middle/long distance runners with a specialty in the 1,500-meter run and mile. He amassed numerous accolades in track and cross-country, including earning a spot in the high school mile at the 2009 Millrose Games in New York City, the last time the prestigious meet was held at Madison Square Garden. Among other accomplishments were individual state crowns in 2010 for the indoor 1,500m and the outdoor 1,500m and 800m. He was also the New England indoor champion for the 1K. But for Ross, the highlight came in the fall of his sophomore year in 2007 when the Avengers claimed the state cross-country title with a 59-85 victory over second-place La Salle Academy. Ross led EG by placing fourth overall.
“I still have the jacket hanging up in the closet at my parent’s house,” he said. “The medals and stuff, somewhere boxed up. Every now and then one of my teammates, Akash Chougle, sends me a text on the day we won. It’s always cool to try and reconnect that way. That was a lot of fun. That’s probably my most proud and favorite memory of high school running.”
Ross was part of an era in Rhode Island where our small state was beginning to make a big impact at the national level. He competed alongside teammate Mark Feigen and 11-time state champion Andrew Springer of Westerly, who won the national indoor mile his senior year in 2009. All three competed at Millrose that year, a feat that is unprecedented for a state like R.I. The trio essentially created a boom in distance running in the state that has continued since then with numerous athletes making it to the national stage, such as La Salle’s D.J. Principle, Jack Salisbury and Matt Bouthilette, Saint Raphael’s Dariius Kipyego and, recently, the Saints’ Devan Kipyego, who could very well be one the next sub four-minute milers this spring.
“I’d selfishly like to say I was part of that trend,” said Ross, who ran a best of 4:16 for the mile and 1:53 for the 800m while at EG. “I looked at it when I was a freshman, there was Andrew Palumbo of Hendricken and Brandon Burns of North Kingstown dueling it out week after week. Then Springer came in, and Mark and I were training and getting better. It all starts with the competition. It elevates everyone else’s drive. It did for me, and I know Mark. It was definitely cool to be part of it. I know I lost more to Springer than I won. I can say I won a few. It’s really cool. Then the next wave came along, DJ Principe and all those guys, and even right now with Devan.”
Ross would go on to compete at the Division 1 level in college at La Salle University in Philadelphia where he enjoyed moderate success by making all conference in A-10 for cross country and as part of a host of relay squads. As a post-collegian, Ross joined the sub-4 club for the mile when he clocked 3:59.73 at the Adrian Martinez Classic on June 2, 2016.
At the time, Ross was a member of the former New England Distance Project, a club that was created by Bob and Anne Rothenberg to provide a supportive environment for post-collegiate runners committed to representing their community and reaching a higher level of competition.
“I ran four minutes a couple of times,” he said. “I thought I was going to be one of those people that would come close and not actually break it. I credit Bob and Anne Rothenburg with helping me get there at New England Distance. The guys that helped me train, I owe them a lot of thanks to the success I had.”
“It’s crazy,” he added. “I’m happy I broke four (minutes), but now it’s like every high school runner under the sun is breaking it now. It’s pretty impressive to see.”
While training with NE Distance Project, Ross also had a chance to coach high school track at his alma mater from 2015-19. In 2016, the 4x800m quartet of Colin Cianciolo, Jeffrey Pederson, Quentin Viera and Cebastian Gentile set the current state mark of 7:35.43 by placing third overall at the New Balance Nationals that spring. Gentile, who competes for Iowa State, is among one of the nation’s top 800m runners.
“I had some of the best memories there,” he said. “Obviously, Cebastian is doing some amazing stuff out there in Iowa. I often have people say, ‘Kids are breaking your records.’ I’m like, ‘Good, records are made to be broken.’ I wish I could go back to coaching. Ultimately, I do hope I can and have a job that’s accommodating. Obviously it’s a job that benefits school teachers because you’re out of school at the same time. I can’t help but be a fan of East Greenwich track & field from afar…I love my running success, but kind of live through their success more. It’s just a cool experience.”
In addition to his running, Ross spends his working life as an assistant manager at the Treehouse Brewing Company in Sandwich, MA, a town that he currently resides in.
“I have been there for two years. I worked at another brewery when running for New England Distance Project. It’s been a fun industry. It’s kind of like the running community. People go there with a common interest. They talk about it just like you talk about races.”
Speaking of races, for his next one Ross plans to take a somewhat conservative approach, especially considering his recent hip issues. Leading up to Boston, he was averaging about 65 miles per week.
“My goal was to get closer to 75 miles,” he said. “The injury kind of lingered on. Since then, I haven’t put in as many workouts. I think my longest run was 18 miles. I tried to listen to my body a little bit and try to get healthy before I start picking up the miles. My goal is to get close to what I ran last year – 2:52 would be ideal. I had higher goals about two months ago, but at this point I’m just trying to get better. My goal is to finish, but finish it in that sub seven-minute range. I might go out a little conservative to see how my hip is. If I can power through that back half and lower my time a little bit, that would be great.”
Like most that have competed at the Boston Marathon have often said, the enthusiasm from the spectators that line the course from Hopkinton to Copley Square in Boston is a huge motivator to getting to the finish line. Ross is hoping to change at least one thing when he makes that last turn down Boylston Street for the final quarter mile of the race.
“I tell this joke all the time,” he said. “You turn left onto Boylston Street and it’s been said that the crowd is going to lift you up and bring you through. Each time I turned left onto Boylston Street and looked up, I’m like, ‘Holy cow, that finish line is far away!’ This time maybe I need to not lift my head up as high and just embrace the crowd. It is loud. It’s a tunnel of people. It’s very uplifting. I think the last two times, I have just been keeping my eyes on the finish line and seeing how far away it is. The last mile of my previous two marathons have been my slowest. Maybe I can change that up a little bit this time.”
