Peter Bartlett ’09 was not running just to finish, which he did. And he was not running just to win a $500 bet from a coworker, which he did, too.
The 23-year-old finished the race in a blistering 2 hours, 30 minutes, 5 seconds, running the 26.2 miles at an average pace of 5 minutes, 44 seconds per mile. In his first marathon, the New York City resident placed 44th in a field of 45,000.
His finish also placed him 15th among Americans, and he finished ahead of all but one person his age or younger, whom he trailed by just 30 seconds.
The event was a chance for Bartlett to compete with the best runners in the world. It also marked the culmination of Bartlett’s year-long transformation from a relatively inexperienced marathon runner into a competitive threat.
Bartlett said he started thinking about running the marathon when he made a bet with his boss at Goldman Sachs, who wagered that Bartlett could not run the race in under 2 hours, 38 minutes.
Bartlett, a member of the cross country and track and field teams while at the University, began training over the summer, helped by Sarah Cummings ’11, a member of the cross country team who was interning at his office. He also entered shorter races, including some half marathons.
But during his training, Bartlett’s motivations suddenly changed.
“By the time the race came around, it became something more substantial than just a bet,” he recalled. “My grandmother passed away recently, so I ran the marathon for charity — the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation — and I was able to raise $36,000, which was really special.”
In an e-mail he sent to co-workers and friends before the marathon, Bartlett explained that his grandmother’s passing last summer after a year-long battle with liver cancer was his inspiration for running the race. “She was a huge part of my life, and it was at this point that I truly recognized just how devastating the effects of cancer can be on so many families,” he wrote. “It was also at this point that I decided to run NY for a dedicated cancer charity.”
Bartlett said the race was an incredible experience.
“I basically had 2 million people cheering me on, which is a pretty great feeling and gives you some adrenaline.”
Feeding off that adrenaline, Bartlett said he began the race aggressively, finding himself “in a pretty solid pack of runners, which at points included the top runner from the Netherlands and the top runners from Italy.”
Bartlett said he knew he was making good pace, putting his aim of a mid-2:30 finish in sight.
“My pie-in-the-sky goal was exactly 2:30, so I was definitely happy to make that time,” he said.
Former teammate Michael Maag ’09, who got together with Bartlett a few times a week over the summer to run loops around Central Park, said he was less surprised than most by Bartlett’s time since he trained with him.
“I thought he would come in somewhere between 2:30 and 2:40,” Maag said. “It’s one thing to train to be in shape, and it’s another thing to stay healthy and actually be able to get the time on the day of the race. I was pleasantly surprised, but not shocked, when he finished in 2:30.”
A native of Palos Verdes, Calif., Bartlett arrived at Princeton in 2005 as an enthusiastic freshman who was not yet competitive at the collegiate level.
According to Steven Dolan, head coach of the men’s cross country team and assistant coach of the men’s track and field team, Bartlett had to fight for a spot on the teams when he first got to campus.
“His high school program was maybe not the most aggressive one, so by the time he got to Princeton, his talent wasn’t fully developed,” Dolan said. “He had to work to keep up with the older guys at first, but he had such an enthusiasm and zest for competition that he would just get better and better.”
Bartlett was known by his teammates and coaches as relentlessly competitive, energetic and enthusiastic — qualities that contributed to his success on Sunday.
“When you first meet him, you realize that he has an incredible zest for life,” Dolan said. “He possesses the kind of personality that’s dominated by a contagious enthusiasm, and that’s something we really valued on the team.”
During his four years at Princeton, Bartlett steadily improved his speed and technique until he was one of the better runners in the Ivy League. He particularly excelled at the 3,000 meter steeplechase — an event in which he was one of the top performers in the conference by his senior year.
Even given the improvement he showed during his time as a Tiger, Dolan said he was surprised by Bartlett’s strong performance in the marathon.
“Placing 44th is really amazing for your first time,” Dolan said. “He was always good at long tempo runs, but it’s really extraordinary to finish [in 2:30]. I had heard from [Maag] that he was in good shape, but still, even finishing in 2:45 would have been great. I know he’s a busy guy, but it’ll be fun to see how he balances his work with maybe running some more marathons in the future.”
But for now, Bartlett isn’t setting his sights on another race.
“I don’t even want to think about running another marathon right now,” he said, laughing. “But this one was definitely an amazing experience.”
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