Cory Krabbe was a distance runner in high school at East Clinton.
Though he was part of a successful team, league champions he said, Krabbe “didn’t take it very seriously to be honest.”
“I wasn’t very good,” he admitted.
But now, for the 2006 East Clinton High School and 2011 Wilmington College graduate, running is important. So much so, in fact, he’ll be running Monday in the historic Boston Marathon.
Krabbe, whose parents Wayne and Susan live in Sabina along with sister Dani and her two kids Joel and Ivy, qualified for the Boston Marathon in 2019 but because of the Covid-19 pandemic was unable to accept the invitation until this year’s race.
“As a male under the age of 35 I would have to get under three hours in a qualifying marathon and the Boston Athletic Association will only take 20,000 runners so the farther you are under your qualifying time the more likely you are to be accepted,” he said. “All that considered, I chose the Columbus Marathon which is (run on a) far flatter (course) than the Cincinnati Flying Pig marathon.”
Krabbe finished the 2019 Columbus Marathon with a time of 2:58.46.
“Because of Covid I couldn’t use that time to apply to the Boston Marathon until this year’s race, though I could have used that time for the 2021 race, but I didn’t make the cut due to the Boston Athletic Association cutting the field of runners significantly that year,” he said.
Krabbe, who majored in criminal justice and psychology at WC, is currently a unit manager at the Lebanon Correctional Institution. He lives in Cincinnati with his girlfriend Allison and her two kids.
Krabbe played football at EC in addition to track but was tired of sports and didn’t play anything in college. He admits he put on some weight after school but wanted to get back in shape and began running. Sister Dani ran in the Flying Pig Half Marathon in 2014, sparking Cory’s competitive side.
“Not to be outdone, and to give myself motivation to get back in shape, I signed up for the 2015 Flying Pig Half Marathon,” he said.
Without any structured training, Krabbe finished that half marathon in 1:28.34 and continue to run in 5Ks and other half marathons.
In 2018, Krabbe felt it was time to reach for new levels. Living in Cincinnati at this time, Krabbe decided to join the Fleet Cincinnati Running Club in preparation for a marathon run. His first marathon was the Flying Pig in spring of 2019. Despite a goal of just finishing, Krabbe posted a respectable 3:09.59.
“I felt rough but happy with the result,” he said.
He then joined the Fleet Feet Elite, now known as Cincinnati Fleet Feet Racing Team, to continue the push.
”The racing team only accepted certain runners who train at a higher level and at faster paces,” he said. “Training with them I cut my marathon time down by over 10 minutes and ran 2:58.46 at the Columbus Marathon in the fall of 2019.”
Regardless of what happens Monday in Boston, Krabbe said he plans to run the Chicago Marathon in October and hopefully Boston again next April.
”In the long term I just hope to stay healthy and continue to run,” he said.
