Friday, March 29, 2024

Shiprock Marathon winner dedicates race to family

Shiprock Marathon winner dedicates race to family

FRUITLAND, N.M.

A little over a month ago, Harold Bennally’s world was rocked.

His father fell ill and he put everything on hold, which included running so that he could be by his side.

That segment of his life happened a few days before he would run in his first Boston Marathon.

“My dad went into the hospital and I stayed by my dad the whole time until he left…” he recalled. “It was one week before Boston before I started running again.”

After he bid his father farewell he decided he had to go to Boston despite not running for two weeks leading up to the marathon.

“I decided to dedicate the marathon I did in Boston to my father. I wasn’t really prepared to race, I just went over there for experience,” he said. “I knew my dad wanted me to go, that’s the reason why I went to Boston.”

His family couldn’t make the trip to watch him run at the renowned event so when he returned he decided to run the 32nd annual Shiprock Marathon, a race he hadn’t planned on running. He registered two nights before and after three straight years running it, he won the men’s race with a time of 3:03:01.

Bennally said his family wanted to see him race and he wanted to oblige them. He said it was a humbling experience.

“It’s a blessing, it’s something I looked forward to last year but it didn’t happen,” he said. “My family missed my marathon in Boston a week and a half ago, they were all free this weekend… they wanted to watch me run. I did it for my family.”


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About The Author

Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi

Sunnie Clahchischiligi has been the sports writer for the Navajo Times since 2008. She has a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from the University of New Mexico. Before joining the Times, she worked at the St. Cloud Times (Minn.), the Albuquerque Journal, the Santa Fe New Mexican, Sports Illustrated Magazine in New York City and the Salt Lake Tribune. She can be reached at sunnie@navajotimes.com or via cell at (505) 686-0769.

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