Former Mammoth council member and Mayor, Rick Wood is scheduled to run the Boston Marathon Monday, April 21st.

For a race on the other side of the continent, Wood wont be the only runner from the Eastern Sierra to head back east for the 112th Boston Marathon. Elaine Smith, Dan Meyers, and Sherryl Taylor, all members of the High Sierra Striders running club, have qualified to run the Boston this year along with the former mayor.

Wood says that he is in the best shape of his life since training with the High Sierra Striders. In preparation for the Boston, Wood runs 40-60 miles week, a serious time commitment that he says has replaced political involvement in his life.

For the long time local politician its fitting that politics played into how Wood became involved with running marathons with the High Sierra Striders. He explained that when he was on council Deena Kastor and Meb Keflezghi asked the Town to officially support the elite athletes who live and train in Mammoth. Wood says the council gave both financial and moral support to the athletes in return for international recognition of Mammoth.

The spin off from the elite distance runners moving to Mammoth has been the high Sierra Striders running club. Wood says that club founder, Andrew Kastor, has been instrumental and inspirational in building this club to it’s current level of 50 runners.

The striders from the Eastern Sierra are scheduled to run the Boston Marathon Monday. Two other Eastern Sierra Marathon runners, Deena Kastor and Kate ONeil will race for a spot on the US Olympic Team in Boston on Sunday. Well keep you posted.

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