Don't expect any current Boston athletes to follow in Zdeno Chara's marathon footsteps
BOSTON -- Zdeno Chara ran his first Boston Marathon on Monday, dominating the course in pure Chara fashion. The 6-foot- 9 future Hall of Famer completed his run in just three hours, 38 minutes, and 23 seconds.
We saw Chara's incredible workout routine when he was playing for the Bruins, which explains why he was able to play in the NHL at such a high level until the age of 44. He's also the kind of guy who would bike the Tour de France route in the offseason -- just for fun.
Simply put, Chara was and is different beast.
He wasn't the only former Boston athlete to run the Marathon on Monday. Former Red Sox players Brock Holt and Ryan Dempster and former Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie all crossed the finish line.
But don't expect to see anyone on the current Boston teams lacing up their running shoes after their careers come to an end. None of the players asked on Monday or Tuesday sounded very interested in making the sprint from Hopkinton to Boston.
"I could never do anything like that," said Celtics veteran Al Horford.
At 36, Horford has a lot of mileage on his legs. He's run up and down the floor countless times over his 16-year NBA career. But that doesn't mean he's going to hit the pavement whenever he retires from the NBA.
"I have so much respect for it and it's such a special part of the city. But, no. I'm not a runner," said Horford. "I can't run probably more than a mile. A lot of respect and admiration for anyone who goes out and finishes it."
The same goes for fellow big man Robert Williams. The Time Lord defies gravity on the court, but don't count on seeing him racing the clock on Marathon Monday.
"You know I got asked that like six times yesterday, and I said 'No' each time," Williams said with a smile on Tuesday.
Like Chara, Williams stands at 6-foot-9. But he doesn't think that his big strides will help him over such a long race.
"Maybe from here to that wall, but not a marathon," he joked.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, on the other hand, wouldn't mind giving it a try. He's not sure if he could complete a marathon, but he'd be willing to die trying.
And he was being completely serious.
"I would just go until I die," Mazzulla deadpanned Monday. "I don't know how long that is. I wouldn't mind finding out some day."
If Mazzulla needs a marathon running mate, Jaylen Brown would be the likeliest candidate off the Celtics roster. He's freakishly athletic, and would probably run a marathon just for fun.
At the Bruins practice facilities on Tuesday, Taylor Hall marveled at Chara and all of those who ran the Boston Marathon on Monday. Like Horford and Williams, he doesn't see any marathons in his future.
"It's something I'll never be able to do," admitted Hall. "Maybe when I'm done I'll get into something like that. But I really doubt it. With the way my body feels right now, I don't want to put myself through that."
Hall saw Chara at the arena on Tuesday, joking that he showed up to use the cold tub.
"But he looked fine to me," said Hall.
While Hall may not be able to run a marathon, maybe Patrice Bergeron will follow in Chara's footsteps when he's done playing. We know that Bergy is an incredible athlete, and one that can play -- and likely run -- through a lot of pain.
Moving to baseball, David Ortiz -- who served as the Grand Marshall of the 127th Boston Marathon -- told WBZ-TV's Dan Roche that he can only run the bases.
"Why do you think I retired from baseball? I can't run," said the Hall of Fame DH.
Ortiz also joked that the furthest he's ever run was "home plate to home plate."
While none of the current Boston stars want to participate in the Boston Marathon, they all admire what it means to the city. And it certainly helps add to the atmosphere when the Red Sox also play that morning, and the Bruins and Celtics are enjoying their respective postseasons.
"It's really cool," said Hall. "Not only cool for me but it's nice when I have visitors in town. They get to experience the city as well, and go to Red Sox games, watch the Boston Marathon, come to a game, and then you have the Celtics playing."
With all of that going on at once, it kind of sounds like its own little marathon in the Boston sports scene.
