Daniel Tapia!!! 9th!!!

Awesome stuff, I'll be telling all my kids about that at practice today. Congrats to him (and to you, coach).

It couldn't happen to a better kid either! Working full time at family restaurant while going to law school and helping coach at our school when he has "free" time on top of all his training! Incredible story!

anymore backstory on him? where he went to college, current mileage and training?

Congrats and well done to him

Reminds me of Andrés Espinosa, masters world record holder for men's marathon, and who turned 50 just this February. Espinosa didn't know he was a good runner until he ran a marathon, and surprising himself won it in 2:15.

Tapia would be inspired by this story about how Espinosa learned he could run a fast marathon.

In 1988, a then-unknown Perez showed up at the last minute to run White Rock. He was a hard-working 25-year-old husband and father who trained in the afternoons after his eight-hour shift at a Monclova steel mill. His only marathon experience had been a 3:20 finish five years before.

He had decided to run Dallas when a friend who was registered suggested they drive up together. Perez agreed to come only after running 18 miles on Friday before leaving Mexico for the Sunday race.

Despite the lack of rest, he blew past two-time champion and favorite John Lodwick and finished the Rock in 2:16:13, more than 10 minutes ahead of runner-up Jeff Pope (2:26:19).

"That confirmed me to be a runner, a true marathoner," said Perez, who didn't consider himself a serious runner at the time. "That was the start of my career."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/more-sports/running/20101201-mexican-star-returns-to-running-roots.ece

Perez is Andrés Espinosa "Perez"

2:07 for 800 / 10:39 for 3200 in HS at North Monterey HS.

(By the way the Monterey / Santa Cruz / Salinas area is not very large in population but immensely deep in talent for distance running)

Went to Hartnell College, a JC in Salinas and worked his tail off running 14:39 for 5k and 30:55 for 10k.

http://www.hartnell.edu/athletics/track_and_field/Mens_top20.htm#5000m

Attended/s UCSC (no track team), works full time and helps out with his local HS track / xc team. He is the blue collar , come from nothing poster boy we love here at letsrun.

Can we get some love on the front page?

Nice job Danny and Coach!

A short write up on Tapia:

http://runnersfeed.com/daniel-tapia-looks-to-his-family-for-inspiration/

[quote]Attitude wrote:

Reminds me of Andrés Espinosa, masters world record holder for men's marathon, and who turned 50 just this February. Espinosa didn't know he was a good runner until he ran a marathon, and surprising himself won it in 2:15.

Tapia would be inspired by this story about how Espinosa learned he could run a fast marathon.

In 1988, a then-unknown Perez showed up at the last minute to run White Rock. He was a hard-working 25-year-old husband and father who trained in the afternoons after his eight-hour shift at a Monclova steel mill. His only marathon experience had been a 3:20 finish five years before.

He had decided to run Dallas when a friend who was registered suggested they drive up together. Perez agreed to come only after running 18 miles on Friday before leaving Mexico for the Sunday race.

Despite the lack of rest, he blew past two-time champion and favorite John Lodwick and finished the Rock in 2:16:13, more than 10 minutes ahead of runner-up Jeff Pope (2:26:19).

"That confirmed me to be a runner, a true marathoner," said Perez, who didn't consider himself a serious runner at the time. "That was the start of my career."

You make it sound like he ran 2:16 without any preparation. Maybe his first serious try at the marathon, but those preceding years in training must have already indicated great potential.

mgm wrote: You make it sound like he ran 2:16 without any preparation. Maybe his first serious try at the marathon, but those preceding years in training must have already indicated great potential.

Typical troll, take a positive post to encourage this runner and turn into a negative.

Espinoza ran a 3:20 marathon, prior. He ran 18 miles a few days before his 2:16 to see if he could run far enough. He had never run that far before. He considered himself a hobby jogger. After the 2:16 he started training harder.

Hopefully, Tapia gets some sponsorships, gets to work harder, and see where his abilities can take him.

Coach Ibarra wrote:

Wow! I'm speechless!! A kid from a small town that couldn't break 10:00 for 2 miles for us is now 9th at Boston!!!!!! Dream big kids, it can be done!!!!!!!!!

So proud of you Danny!!!!

Coach Ibarra

North Monterey County HS

Hi Coach,

Can you please comment on his training while he was in high school (average weekly mileage is all I'm curious about), including which grade he started running?

Congrats, Daniel! Way to run Panther tough and show the big boys how it's done!

"big boys" meaning all those dudes with big sponsorship dollars that you beat.

Sure,

Funny the notes people put up about people they've never even met...

Danny is quite the story. He came out for cross country sophomore year and did show promise right away. With minimal training he was able to run around 17-18 minutes for 3 miles. He joined a very good cross team and had great teammates to inspire him. All 3 years he was a role player on a good team. Our top guys were 4:17/9:08, 1:55/4:19, 4:25/9:30, types so he was a bit out of his league at that time. He worked hard and was very dedicated... he progressed nicely and ended up running 4:41 and 10:04. He averaged 30-40 miles a week as a young pup and worked his way to 50-60 by senior year. Our training is a mix of volume and intensity without an extreme in either. His first love was soccer and he continued to play that throughout. I always felt that he was a diamond in the rough since he started late and was just getting going by the time he graduated... While our top guys went to DI schools he went to school without a team and later on decided to get back into running on the roads... he found success by just putting in the work day in and day out... he went on to Hartnell Junior College nearby to be on a team and ended up state champ in cross and track although his love was always the roads... long story short he ran 1:04 for the half marathon and now the 2:14 at Boston. He is quite the guy going to law school, working full-time at his parents' restaurant, and helping coach at our school all while logging the mileage it takes to be great at that level... He has a bright future as he is committed 100% and may now be able to focus a bit more on running as he finished school...

Hope that helps...

Tapia had a very good run at Boston, but his 2:16.29 into a gale at CIM last December was probably a better net effort.

http://www.runcim.org/news_article/show/198629?referrer_id=212559

actual reader wrote:

Attitude wrote:

Espinoza ran a 3:20 marathon, prior. He ran 18 miles a few days before his 2:16 to see if he could run far enough. He had never run that far before. .

He ran a 3:20 marathon, but had never run more than 18 miles before his 2:16?

Make up your stories much?

I clearly understand the comment made. Why can't you?

Espinoza ran 18 miles a few days before he ran 2:16. That's as far as he "ran."

Are you trying to say that a guy capable of "running" 2:16 would also be "running" 3:20? That makes no sense at all. Take any 2:15 guy and have him post a 3:20. The LRC boards would go insane. Nothing by criticism about finishing more than one hour slower than he was "capable" of. Calling him a hobby-jogger would be one of the milder criticisms.

2:07 for 800 / 10:39 for 3200 in HS at North Monterey HS. Ok now it's 4:41 and 10:04......which one one correct 10:39 or 10;04 Coach? On 50-60 miles a week? Really? Now runs 9th at Boston...really developed after high school but sounds like something is out of wack in high school...

Read more:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5134630#ixzz2QeQPW6kZ

Great job Daniel!!!! Great guy!!!

Coach didn't say 2:07 and 10:39 were his PRs.

Coach knows Danny's high school PRs of 4:41 and 10:04.

Coach ran under 1:50 in the 800.

Be respectful to a very kind man that has had a significant positive impact on so many.