Shiprock Marathon winner dedicates race to family
Harold Benally, 32, winner of the 32nd annual Shiprock Marathon gives high-fives to his nieces and nephews while running the marathon on May 2. Bennally ran the marathon the last two years and finally won this year with a time of 3:03:01. He also ran in the Boston Marathon last month. (Courtesy photo)
FRUITLAND, N.M.
A little over a month ago, Harold Bennally’s world was rocked.
His father fell ill and he put everything on hold, which included running so that he could be by his side.
That segment of his life happened a few days before he would run in his first Boston Marathon.
“My dad went into the hospital and I stayed by my dad the whole time until he left…” he recalled. “It was one week before Boston before I started running again.”
After he bid his father farewell he decided he had to go to Boston despite not running for two weeks leading up to the marathon.
“I decided to dedicate the marathon I did in Boston to my father. I wasn’t really prepared to race, I just went over there for experience,” he said. “I knew my dad wanted me to go, that’s the reason why I went to Boston.”
His family couldn’t make the trip to watch him run at the renowned event so when he returned he decided to run the 32nd annual Shiprock Marathon, a race he hadn’t planned on running. He registered two nights before and after three straight years running it, he won the men’s race with a time of 3:03:01.
Bennally said his family wanted to see him race and he wanted to oblige them. He said it was a humbling experience.
“It’s a blessing, it’s something I looked forward to last year but it didn’t happen,” he said. “My family missed my marathon in Boston a week and a half ago, they were all free this weekend… they wanted to watch me run. I did it for my family.”
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