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report that back." Zach said. "We report it
to the operation center, the officials who are
organizing the Marathon, to see if it was
with intentional cause."
Zach has held this role for the past two
years, and said those races have been pretty
clean with not much to report, so he mostly
just took the splits.
"It's exciting – you go through Wellesley,
you go through Boston and you hear
everyone screaming the whole time and it's
like two hours, two-plus hours, of people
screaming and cheering and it just feels like
you're a big part of the day," Zach said.
One of the Blonder duo's favorite parts
about working the race is being a part of
making sure it runs smoothly.
"The eyes of the world are upon Boston
that day. It's one of the most famous races
in the world," Jeff said. "They depend on us
to do our jobs… We want to make sure we
start our watches on time, get to the vehicle
and get to Boston on time. Anything can
happen."
Jeff recalled two years ago when the police
escort from the hotel to the starting line
was driving slowly, and everyone on the bus
was anxious about getting there on time.
"We got there on time but it was kind of
funny because school buses were passing us
and we had a police escort," Jeff said.
While Jeff and Zach work as official timers
for about two and a half fours, just until
the elite runners finish, Zach said it flies by.
"You're working the entire time. I'm taking
splits basically every four or five minutes.
You don't notice the time flying by but it
goes super quick," he said.
When their shift is up, Jeff and Zach
meet up for lunch after and talk about what
they saw and unwind from the busy, early
morning they had.
While they love officiating the Marathon,
neither said they have any desire to run it.
Jeff did say, however, that he is amazed at all
the people who do run and finish it.
"I used to work in Boston and take
the blue line home and I'd see people, on
Marathon day, getting on the blue line and
getting off at the airport, and you could tell
they ran because they still had their running
clothes on and those blankets they give you
at the end, those space blankets," Jeff said. "I
can't imagine running 26 miles, getting on a
train then flying somewhere."
Zach was a runner, doing track for four
years at Swampscott High School and
at Carnegie Mellon, but said he stuck to
sprints so long distance isn't an interest of
his.
"I did the 100 in high school and went to
college and did the 60 meter dash and the
100 meter dash, so that's way, way too long
for me to do a Marathon," Zach said. "I'd
Father and son, Jeffrey and Zach
Blonder, both work as offical timers
for the Boston Marathon.
do a 5k but that's it."
Zach isn't the only one in the family with
a history in track and field — Jeff has been
a track and field official for about 25 years
with the Massachusetts Track and Field
Officials Association, which has a contract
with the Boston Athletic Association and is
how he got into timing for the Marathon.
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