Marathoning is difficult enough in itself, but when one has a goal in mind, say qualifying for Boston, the exertion over the 26-mile, 385-yard course can seem insignificant to the mental stress of looking at one’s watch and seeing how close one is to qualifying and NOT to have qualified.

Such was the case on October 13 for CRR Tripp Shenton, who, despite running a nice 3:31:30 in the Baltimore Marathon, came up a mere 16 seconds shy (his chip time was 3:30:16) of his age’s 3:30 qualifying standard for the Boston Marathon—less than a second per mile. That’s unfortunate.

Still a strong showing. Know he’ll make it one day.