Grandson runs his first-ever marathon and qualifies for Boston

The fact that only 4.3 percent of all marathon runners ever qualify for the Boston Marathon proves just what a feat it is to accomplish. So being able to say you qualified for the world’s oldest annual marathon in the first marathon race you ever ran is even more amazing!

That is exactly what Trenton Miller, grandson of Stockton’s Veda Miller and the late Duane Miller, and John and Malee Berkley, can now lay claim to, as the 27-year-old completed the 26.2mile race in a net time of 2:58:42, placing him 108th out of 3,450.

Qualifying time for the Boston Marathon is 3:00.00 for the 25-29 age group.

Miller, who is in Australia for his job with USA Basketball, took advantage of being able to combine work and “play,” after okaying the idea with his boss. The USA Basketball players and staff got to Sydney on September 12 and will be there until October 2 while the USA Women compete in the 2022 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup which runs from September 22 to October 1. While everyone else was adjusting to the time change once they arrived, Miller was also preparing for his big run.

Blackmores Sydney Marathon, which is one of the world’s most scenic marathon courses, was held on Sunday, September 18. The 26.2-mile course takes the runner by Sydney’s most spectacular and historic landmarks including the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House, and this opportunity appealed to Miller, who is not necessarily your typical marathon runner.

Although he has always been one who watches what he eats and stays in good shape, Miller didn’t run cross country or track while going to school at Topeka Seaman. Instead, he was a talented, four-year soccer player, starting as a freshman at defender, and a two-year tennis player, competing in doubles. It was, perhaps, his high school tennis coach who had some influence on his interest in marathons, as by the age of 72, Coach Don Rich had run 100 marathons, with 10 of those being the Boston Marathon. As they would go to and from tennis meets, Coach Rich would share stories from his training and competing in marathons.

Miller, who now resides in Colorado Springs, Colo., entered in his first-ever endurance race back on May 21 of this year when he ran the 8th annual Bill Snyder Highway Half (13.1 miles) in Manhattan, finishing 13th overall out of 650+ racers. A short time after that, he decided he would like to try a full marathon, and the one in Sydney fit the bill.

With his job, Miller is surrounded by well-conditioned athletes and their trainers from whom he can benefit, but still noted that training for the marathon in the months leading up to it was very demanding. “I found the training to be the most challenging part of the marathon, but on the actual race day it was probably staying mentally strong to keep my pacing/ body on track to handle the mileage,” said Miller. “It was easy to get sped up or start chasing, but I was wise to not do that until late,” he added.

The splits for the Sydney Marathon show Miller running his first 5K (3.10 miles) in 00:21:49 minutes, which figures out to a 4:21 mile pace at 8.54 miles per hour, placing him in 291st place. By the time he reached the 15K (9.32 miles) mark, Miller was averaging a 4:10 mile, and was in 195th place. Although the next 15K (getting him to the 35K (21.75 miles mark)) was just a few seconds slower per mile, Miller was now in 146th place, and had just under four and one-half miles left in the race. At this point he considered stepping up the pace, but, in hindsight, was glad he didn’t. “At 21 miles, I almost started to ‘go for it,’ but was glad I held myself off until mile 23. That ended up being very smart because my body started to fold during mile 25,” Miller said.

When he reached the 40K mark, Miller was at the pace of at 4:09 mile, running along at 8.95 mph, and in the final 2.2K (1.37miles) he kicked it up to 9.42 mph for a 3:57 mile pace, resulting in a net time of 2:58.42 for the race, and a 108th-place finish. “I can’t say the marathon was ‘fun,’ but the challenge was mentally fun,” said Miller. His gun time was 2:59.04, placing him 109th out of 3,450 runners (both male and female) representing various countries besides Australia, including Kenya, Germany, Japan, Ethiopia, France and many more. Gun time is the runner’s time from where the runner is when the gun goes off until they cross the finish line, while net time clocks the runner from the time they step on the starting mat to the time they finish the race.

Moses Kibet (25-29) of Kenya won the race for the men with a net time of 2:07:02, while Cosmas Matolo Muteti (30-34) from Deutschland finished a close second with a time of 2:07:03, In the women’s division, Tigist Girma Getachew (25-29), representing the USA, crossed the finish line first with a net time of 2:25:09, while Ethopia’s Letebrhan Haylay Gebreslasea was second with a time of 2:25:44.

Miller’s favorite part of the marathon was “just seeing all the people along the course, and then finishing!” He was not alone in his endeavor, as several members of the USA Basketball staff were there to cheer him on. Although his parents remained in America, they were able to follow him throughout the marathon course on their phones. Trenton’s dad, Danny Miller (SHS Class of ’77) jokingly says, “Although you would never know by judging from our athletic talent, I assure you Trenton is our son, and his mother (Thui (SHS Class of ’83)) and I are very proud of him.”

As it stands, Miller will most likely not be able to participate in the Boston Marathon until 2024. The Marathon, which is held each year on the third Monday of April (Patriots’ Day), will take place on April 15, 2024, with the qualifying window beginning on September 1, 2022. If he decides to participate, Miller will need to submit his net time and hope he is selected to run.

For instance, in 2021, 20,000 runners competed in the race, with 9,214 qualifiers not accepted. This year, however, they increased the field size to 30,000. The qualifying window for next year’s Boston Marathon, which will be held on April 17, 2023, began back on September 1, 2021, but because registration for the event just recently took place from September 12 through September 16, 2022, Miller is too late to register due to the fact he just ran the race on September 18.

For the remainder of his stay in Australia, Miller will be taking care of his duties as USA Basketball’s digital content manager, a position he has held since 2019, after working his way up from intern (2017), and coordinator (2018). He is responsible for creating digital content, overseeing USA Basketball social media accounts and assisting the communications staff with the overall effort and publicizing of USA Basketball, its youth initiative and men’s and women’s basketball teams, 3x3 events, team trials and training camps.

His position has allowed him to visit many different parts of the world for the various athletic events. Although he was disappointed he was unable to attend the 2020 Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he hopes to attend the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France. Should the USA Women go on to win the World Cup next week, they will have an automatic bid to the 2024 Summer Olympics. They are the tournament favorites, having won the last three years, as well as clinching their seventh consecutive Olympic gold at the Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021. So far they are undefeated in the tourney, Although the team still has a very talented roster with the likes of A’ja Wilson Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Breanna Stewart, they are without Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi this year. Bird recently retired from the game, while Taurasi is injured. Having known Miller from her years with the USA Team, Bird, a WNBA superstar, didn’t pass up the opportunity to send Miller a congratulatory text after hearing he performed so well at the Sydney Marathon.

A December 2016 graduate of Kansas State University, Miller spent more than three years assisting the K-State Athletics Communications Department in various roles, including game day media relations activities surrounding K-State’s football, basketball, track and field, tennis, volleyball and golf teams. He spent the summer of 2016 as a communications intern at the MLS Philadelphia Union, and in the summer of 2015 was a training camp marketing intern for the Kansas City Chiefs.