Ryan Mammen winning the Fair Lakes 8K in 2005 with 25:16.

Ryan Mammen has been puzzling over the marathon for three years. He knows how to run fast over the 5K, 8K, and 10 mile distances. But his legs rebel when he is racing 26.2 miles; he has had to stop and walk or slow down during the closing miles of all five marathons he has completed. Ryan has unfulfilled expectations of finishing in 2:30; the 2006 Boston Marathon (2:37:22) is his best marathon race. He is slowly learning how to maintain a steadier pace during the second half. He has learned from mistakes that racing flats are not suitable for 26 miles of pounding, and the body needs a few weeks to recover after a marathon before resuming training; racing long stretches in isolation is best avoided. Meanwhile, Ryan has some solid performances in local road races including the Fair Lakes 8K (2006: 26:03, 3rd; 2005: 25:16, 1st; 2004: 25:20, 1st) and the Clifton Caboose 5K (2006, 1st, 15:35; 2005, 15:48; 2004, 15:45). Ryan competes less than a dozen times a year and finishes near the top in shorter races.

Ryan Mammen has lived in the Washington area since age twelve and attended Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge, VA. He ran cross-country and track; Gar-Field won District titles and had one of the better track teams in Virginia. His coach, Mike Anthony, was an outstanding collegiate runner and had expertise working with high school athletes. Ryan says he posted the fourth fastest 2-mile time in Virginia AAA in 1994.

Ryan graduated from James Madison University in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in accounting. He competed for the Dukes under the leadership of another great coach, Pat Henner. (Henner left JMU in July 1999 to become an assistant coach at Georgetown University.) Ryan loved the structured atmosphere with academic classes and running filling his daily schedule. Henner instilled a training philosophy that emphasizes quality mileage, and Ryan continues to value workouts at a fast pace rather than high weekly mileage. The JMU men's cross country team won its conference championship (Colonial Athletic Association) during Ryan's senior season.

After graduation, Ryan served five summers as a counselor at Coach Henner's Blue Ridge camp for high school runners. Ryan had stopped running due to burnout; he was discouraged that he hadn't reached his full potential during college. He did not run a single step for 3.5 years but returned to the sport because he missed it. He was thinner but horribly out of shape in the fall of 2002. It took him a month to build up to a 3 mile run. He set a goal of racing the Walt Disney World Marathon in January 2004; there were 15 months to get ready. Increasing the mileage of his daily runs required patience. It took four months to achieve a 5-mile run. "I had to get used to being in pain again" during workouts, he wryly quipped during our August conversation.

Fortunately, he bumped into a former college teammate, Eric Post, at a summer track meet in 2003. Post teaches at Centreville High School and started assisting the running team; he is currently the head boys' cross-country coach. Post had completed his first marathon and was preparing for the 2003 Marine Corps Marathon in October. Ryan and Eric started doing their long runs together at Burke Lake or on the W&OD Trail; Eric was in much better condition. Ryan raced "ugly" at the Rockville Twilight 8K (27:09; Eric Post, 25:16) and the Outback Steakhouse 8K (27:18) in November with no track or tempo workouts. By marathon day, he had logged about a dozen 20-mile long runs. It was time to travel to Disney World, a place of pleasant boyhood memories from family trips.

Ryan admits he ran his first marathon, in racing flats, with no idea of what he was doing, without a coach or reading up on the event. The marathon is five times longer than a college cross- country 8K race but he started the journey with no fear. His first marathon at Disney World began well; he was in fourth place until mile 17. But then he slowed down as his legs tired and cramped up at mile 22. He stopped, several people ran past him. The temperature was in the 40s and he shivered as he finished in 2:46:55 for 13th place.

Ryan has chosen to focus on the marathon because the training can be squeezed into a full-time work schedule. Track racing (5000M and 10000M) requires three workouts on the oval a week; student athletes train with a team on campus. But working adults often use nearby trails and roads for their workouts; road racing is more suitable to those training alone. Although Ryan has leg speed and experience in shorter distances from 5 kilometers to 10 miles, the allure of the marathon has attracted his interest. The marathon is one big event with tens of thousands participating, and racing with a large crowd is fun. The Boston Marathon is the greatest because the entire city is out there to watch; spectators line the road every single step of the way. It is an amazing spectacle with people five or ten deep watching on the final mile of the course in downtown Boston.

Ryan has been working in a running store for three years. He started at Metro Run & Walk in Springfield, VA during the summer of 2003; a couple of running friends, JMU alumni Ben Cooke and Jason Long, were also working at Metro Run & Walk stores. After one year, he moved on to the Virginia Runner store in Woodbridge in a position as store manager. Ryan has a good relationship with the store owner Jeff Van Horn and appreciates Van Horn's support of his running.

In the summer of 2004, Ryan geared everything toward the Disney Marathon in January 2005. With a 35 hour per week schedule and 4:00 pm exit, Ryan was able to train the way he wanted with quality runs. He did workouts focused on the 8K/10K distances with Georgetown University's cross-country team: 1000M interval repeats with a short rest; hill work at Iwo Jima Memorial; 800M/1600M mixed repeats on the grassy polo fields of West Potomac Park. He ran 8-mile tempo runs on the C&O Canal towpath starting at 5:40/mile pace and gradually dropping down to 5:10/mile. His road racing in autumn 2004 went well; Ryan placed eleventh, second local, at the Army Ten Miler (51:40). He averaged 100 miles per week for eight weeks with twice a day runs; he had regained his collegiate speed and increased his endurance. Unfortunately, he fell ill on race day and finished the 2005 Disney Marathon in 2:43:37 with both parents watching.

Ryan enjoys meeting people at Virginia Runner and hearing their stories; working professionals who have never run in their lives suddenly decide that they want to run a marathon. Why do so many people choose a difficult event like the marathon, an event that hurts and is not much fun, he asks with irony? Ryan enjoys the relaxed atmosphere in a running store; everyone comes into the store knowing they want to buy a pair of running shoes and he guides them to a good choice or provides information. There is no necessity to push the product as a retailer in a running store.

Currently, Ryan works 12-hour shifts for Northrup Grumman; he continues to work part-time at Virginia Runner. With an average workweek of 55 hours and running 80 miles, his schedule is packed. But he prefers to stay busy rather than sit at home relaxing. Five times a week he does a ten-mile run. If he is feeling good, the pace is fast. Once a week, he does a long run with Eric Post, often 20 miles on the W&OD to acclimate his legs to a hard surface for the marathon. They also run a track workout at Centreville High School once a week. Sometimes he does solo track work at Washington & Lee High School in Arlington, a popular spot for local club interval sessions. Ryan likes the atmosphere with runners of various abilities on the track. He is less likely to quit early and finds motivation in a group. One of his best races this year was the St. Patrick's Day 8K (25:19, 5th). His father, a runner and Ryan's inspiration, often watches him race and takes photographs; he was at the Cure Autism Now 5K (15:51, 3rd) in Potomac, MD on July 4th. Everyone in the Mammen family is supportive.