6 | <strong>01907</strong> BLONDERS, continued from page 5 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, Jeffery 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. BLONDERS, continued on page 8 71
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