Florida Tech assistant finishes Boston Marathon 295th

Florida Tech volunteer assistant coach Chris Cacciapaglia had an impressive debut at the Boston Marathon Monday.

Despite chilly, rainy weather, Cacciapaglia finished 295th with a time of 2 hours, 40 minutes and 33 seconds in just his third marathon.

16,500 male runners entered the race with 14,858 starting and 14,588 finishing.

"I'm definitely happy considering everything," he said. "It's a tough course, it really is. I know I can run it more strategically and run it better by training a bit more for a marathon. I felt I was doing really bad when I was looking at my pace. It seemed like everyone else was having an off day too. I had heard quite a few of the top guys were off their pace by about 10 minutes. Needless to say, I'm feeling better about my time."

Cacciapaglia began the race with his mile pace in the 5:40s from the 10K point all the way to the halfway mark. However, in the last 13.1 miles, he really had to push himself with the variances in elevation.

"When we started, it was downhill, so that really pounded my quads," he said. "I think by Mile 14 my quads were filled with lactic acid. I was really proud of myself for pushing as hard as I did especially after how I felt early on in the race. The downhills were killing me the most. The uphills after the downhills slowed down my pace a lot. It was kind of a combination of those things that made it really difficult."

The weather conditions made the race even more challenging for the competitors, but he continued to persevere.

"(The headwind) kept getting worse throughout the race," he said. "By the time I got into Boston there was quite a headwind. It was getting colder throughout the day. One minute after I finished, I think I was almost hypothermic. I stopped into a hotel to warm up. They were super nice. They gave me some hot coffee and a blanket and told me to 'stay here until you warm up.' Then I had to make it back to my hotel."

Along the way, he appreciated the cheers that came from the spectators that lined the course.

"The people here are amazing," he said.

Cacciapaglia's time requalifies for the Boston Marathon, which he hopes to compete in again one day. Next time, he is certain he will do even better.

"I know I can do better," he said. "Hopefully I'll run it again. I requalify with this time. If I have enough time and enough money to come back up here I'll definitely beat that time."