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The 10 Fastest Boston Marathoners in Jamaica Plain

Whether it was for charity or a personal record – or in the wake of last year’s bombings, to make a statement – 81 runners from the Jamaica Plain neighborhood ran in the 2014 Boston Marathon this past Monday.

While it’s a major accomplishment for anyone to run the marathon, we thought we’d spotlight the top 10 fastest marathoners from JP.

First Place
The neighborhood’s fastest marathoner is Alex Taylor, 34, who lead the JP pack with a time of 2:23, and an average pace of 5:29 per mile. That put him 31st overall in his division and 41st overall in the entire race.

Alex Taylor

Taylor, a software engineer, has run 8 marathons, including five in Boston. But this year was special for Taylor because it marked his return from an injury that left him sidelined for three years.

“It was meaningful to participate this year, so it was a great year to make a comeback,” he said.

Taylor, who has lived in the neighborhood for two and a half years, says he trains in JP a good amount.

“I do a fair amount of running around the Riverway and in the Arboretum,” he said. “I would say living in JP is good for training since it affords you a lot of decent places to run.”

Although this year’s race wasn’t a PR for him, Taylor said was very happy with the result.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better day personally,” he said. “I wouldn’t know how to quantify it, but from the beginning it felt like it was a different, special day.”

Top JP Marathoners
Jamaica Plain resident Matthew Simon Anderson, 30, finished at 2:50 with a pace of 6:30 per mile.

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Matthew Simon Anderson

This was Anderson’s second official Boston marathon. His first was last year. Luckily he and his loved ones were not affected by the bombings – he had finished the race and was already home in Jamaica Plain – but last year’s events helped him to decide to run again.

“I didn’t feel like I was making some sort of statement by running this year, but I just wanted to be part of it because I thought it would be special,” he said.

Although he didn’t reach his goal of breaking 2:50, Anderson shed two and a half minutes off of his previous record and finished in the top 1,000 overall.  He said the support along the race was as amazing as its been in past years.

“I was worried there would be so many police that no one would want to come, but it felt the same, which was probably about the best thing it could be,” he said. “I felt really good about this race and I was happy to be out there and be part of it.”

The rest of the top five among Jamaica Plain residents include Owen Kendall, 31, who finished the race with a time of 2:32, putting him 100th in his division and 124th overall with a pace of 5:49 per mile. David Moyer, 24 came in 3rd out of JP residents with a time of 2:48 and a pace of 6:26 per mile. Sara Donahue, 33, the first and only female in the top 10, finished with an overall time of 2:51, and a pace of 6:32 per mile. She was 49th in her division and 55th for the women’s race.

Rounding out the top 10 were Randy Doak, 29, with a time of 2:54, Eric Maas, with a time of 2:54, Ian Whittle with a time of 2:56, Murray McCutcheon with a time of 2:57, and Donald Woodford with a time of 3:04.

Major congrats to all the runners – you’ve made Jamaica Plain proud!

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