Erica Pagotto always just ran for the fun of it.

“When I was younger, even in kindergarten, my parents would take me to the park and they said I would run around the track and just keep running and running and running,” she said. “And so I loved it, even in kindergarten.”

She still does.

But now Pagotto, who is the head cross country and track and field coach at Lehighton, just runs a little more.

This past Monday, Pagotto completed the Boston Marathon for the second year in a row, running a personal best marathon time of 3:23.33.

It marked Pagotto’s 13th marathon - a discipline covering 26.2 miles that she first conquered in 2004 at the age of 20 when she was in college.

The 127th edition of the event featured nearly 30,000 athletes from more then 100 countries. In order to qualify for Boston, athletes must meet time standards which correspond to age and gender.

“I was so happy when I finally qualified last year, and then I ran it fast enough that I requalified for this year,” said Pagotto. “I don’t know if they released the time for next year yet, but I beat my time (from 2022) by 11 minutes so I should be good. I plan on running it again next year.”

Opportunity of a lifetime

There is an inevitable love/hate relationship that often comes with running, one that might be at its strongest on race day.

“At first, I started the morning thinking, ‘Oh man, here we go. It’s going to hurt,’ because no matter what, it hurts,” said Pagotto. “But then I changed my attitude to, ‘I get to run this course.’ The same course as these world class runners, and that actually really helped my outlook, and I just felt positive about running the race, knowing I have the opportunity. I know how fast they can run it in, and now it’s my turn, let’s see what I can do.

“So that attitude shift definitely helped. And I changed my strategy a little bit this time running. During my training runs – I have a Garmin watch that tracks all my runs and there is a race predictor on it, and it predicted that I could run in the 3:20s. And to be honest with you, I didn’t believe it, because my PR before this was 3:29, and that was so hard to get, I didn’t really imagine myself beating it.

“But I thought, why not? I’ve been doing the training. When I was practicing marathon pace, I was hitting a 7:45 pace when I would go out for like 13 miles at marathon pace, that was something I was able to do. So I thought I would go out and try it. I was a little concerned because Boston does start out downhill, and I was a little afraid I might hit a wall halfway through. But I thought I might as well go for it.”

Pagotto, a social studies teacher at the Lehighton Area Middle School, leaned on some advice from a familiar face to help her through the race.

“Recently, Alyssa Williams - a former athlete and student at Lehighton who is currently attending Marywood University studying to be a dietitian in their nutrition program - did a presentation for our high school track team on the proper fuel and food for workouts. Someone asked her, ‘how can I stop cramping?’ and she talked about increasing your salt intake,” said Pagotto. “And so I took her information that she shared and just applied it to what I was eating before the race. I even increased my salt intake during the race, so I really felt good.

“I was aiming for between a 7:45 and an 8:00 minute mile. I thought I would start with an 8:00 mile and see how I feel, especially with the hills. There are four hills before you get to Heartbreak Hill - a steep half-mile uphill at mile 20. But I was able to power through them, and I felt strong, so I kept going and I averaged a 7:46 mile pace.”

Finding her way

Getting a taste of the course and environment for the first time last year paid dividends in her second trip to Boston.

“That helped tremendously, because last year it was such a new experience, just even traveling around the city, where do I have to go, bib pick up, race morning, dropping things off, getting the bus to go to Hopkinton (where the Boston Marathon starts),” said Pagotto. “But this year, knowing the course was so helpful, because I knew I had all of those downhills in the beginning. Last year, within the first half, my quads were really sore, I think partly because I held myself back. I was afraid of going out too fast, whereas this year I knew what to expect so I was more prepared, I did more hill workouts in my training this year, and so when I was working out throughout the winter I just visualized myself on Heartbreak Hill and knowing what I was going to do. So having a plan really helped.”

Pagotto also had plenty of encouragement along the way.

“I also had my parents, my husband and my kids there supporting me,” she said. “So this year, I carried my own water on me, so that helped me. I was a little concerned about the weight, but it didn’t make a difference at all. They have water and Gatorade every mile in Boston, but this year, I carried my own water so I could just run down the middle of the street,

“At one point - I think it was around seven miles or something - my parents were there and I gave them my water bottle and they gave me a new one. And then later on in the race, I gave Tony (her husband) my water bottle, he filled it for me, and then ran up to catch me and give it back to me again. So just having that support was so helpful as well.”

Trust the process

It takes dedication and determination just to get to the starting line, let alone finish with a personal best time.

“So I started just getting a base in December, said Pagotto. “There’s a coach, Jack Daniels, he has several books, he’s coached Olympians, and I follow his plan and I love it. It works for me. It’s two quality hard workouts a week, but I run six or seven days a week, and I just make time. Christmas Eve my treadmill broke. I went to the high school gym and got my miles in. I had a teacher training in Los Angeles, I got up super early in the morning and did 10 miles each day on the treadmill. The training works, you just have to follow it. I just make the time, whether it’s getting up early, or sometimes running late at night.

“I average 45 miles a week, but there were times in a seven-day period I almost hit 60 miles, just with how the different runs fall and everything. Just like teaching, you create your lesson plans and you follow the plan. The same with running. There’s a plan, you follow it. And if you do it, you get the results. And when I was running, I was thinking of my athletes, I was thinking of my own children who are runners, I just want to show them if you follow the plan, trust the plan, trust the process, it does work.”

Pagotto’s dedication to the process was ultimately rewarded.

“I was so happy when I finished. Sometimes before I race, I think, ‘Why do I do this? Why do I put myself through this pain?’ She said. “But then afterwards, I was so happy, meeting that goal, surpassing what I thought I could even run. I didn’t even think I could run that fast. I was just ecstatic.

“It’s exciting because I actually had a lot of friends and family, staff, athletes, students tell me that they were tracking me during the day,” she said. “So knowing that, and even yesterday (Monday) I had a lot of the athletes and different staff members wish me luck, telling me they were tracking me. So just having their positive encouragement really helped me, too, just knowing I had their support, and I wanted to do my best for them as well.”

You might surprise yourself

Racing in Boston is a far cry from the days of running around at the park. But the spirit of the sport is a passion that has never left Pagotto.

“I went to Northwest Area School District in Shickshinny, and we didn’t have a middle school track or cross country program,” Pagotto said. “But because I loved to run, I just went out and practiced with the high school runners.”

Those early days of running helped Pagotto become a state qualifier in cross country. and the school record holder in the 800 in high school. But it’s not records or results Pagotto is chasing.

“There’s a group of us who run every Saturday morning, we meet different places, usually on the D&L Trail,” she said. “We’re always welcome to other runners if they want to come out and join us, so it’s nice to meet them, and it’s just about the different people you meet along the way, at different races, and the runners, I love the running community. Even sometimes former runners come out, we have a good time. And we’re all different paces. Sometimes I might be doing my hard workout, where others are just doing a long run.”

Pagotto’s next race might not be her longest or her fastest. But it will certainly be one she will enjoy.

After all, that’s why she started.

“I just feel blessed and honored, and always want to see what our bodies can do,” she said. “Our bodies are amazing. And I just want to encourage my athletes, see what your body can do. Push yourself, because sometimes you surprise yourself.

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MILESTONE

... During Tuesday’s 16-5 win over Northwestern, Pleasant Valley’s Devon Bush recorded her 100th-career goal. Bush finished the contest with five goals and three assists for the Bears, who are currently 10-0 and have clinched a spot in the Class 3A District 11 playoffs with eight games remaining. In a 14-10 win over Southern Lehigh on April 11, Bush recorded her 100th-career point. Pleasant Valley is currently atop the 3A power rankings.

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NO-NO

... Palmerton’s Nate Stroup and Cam Pengelly both held Moravian hitless in a win on Tuesday. Stroup twirled a no-hitter through six innings to help the Blue Bombers to an 8-1 rout of the Lions in Colonial League play. Stroup walked four and struck out nine over 103 pitches. Cam Pengelly pitched the final frame to seal the win and finish the no-hitter. Pengelly was 2-for-3 with three RBIs, and Brayden Hosier was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Chase Reph was 2-for-2 with three runs scored and an RBI, and Daniel Lucykanish was 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Blue Bombers, who raised their record to 8-1.

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A PAIR OF PANTHER NO-HITTERS

.. It was another impressive week for the undefeated Panther Valley baseball team as Panther pitchers combined to toss a pair of no hitters. On Saturday, Bradley Hood’s no-hitter led the Panthers’ to a 15-0 non-league victory over Tamaqua. Hood walked one and stuck out 11 in his six innings of work. Just five days later, Stephen Hood and Cody Orsulak combined on a five-inning no-hitter as Panther Valley posted a 10-0 win over Minersville. Hood threw three innings and struck out four, while Orsulak closed out the game over the final two innings and struck out one.

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PERFECT

... Tamaqua’s Paige Bumbulsky tossed a shortened perfect game to lead the softball team to a win over Jim Thorpe on April 13. Bumbulsky pitched a four-inning perfect game to lead the Blue Raiders to a 17-0 Schuylkill League victory over the Olympians. Bumbulsky retired all 12 batters she faced, including 11 by strikeout. She also collected two hits - one a homer - and knocked in three runs.

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SCHOOL RECORD ... Marian’s Carly Minchhoff broke a 20-year-old school record in the javelin during Wednesday’s meet against Mahanoy Area. Minchhoff had a throw of 124-9 to set the mark.

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CLINCHED

... As of Thursday morning, a pair of area teams, in addition to the Pleasant Valley girls lacrosse squad, had clinched spots in the District 11 playoffs. Defending champion Panther Valley sat atop the Class 3A rankings with an 11-0 record and a spot secured in the postseason, while the Northwestern Lehigh softball team was locked into the Class 4A bracket and currently in the second spot with an 11-2 record.

Powerful Tri-Valley rolls past Fillies