By Cynthia Whitty

The town of Ashland has 12 runners for this year’s Boston Marathon. The residents run as invitational entries, or “bib” numbers through the Boston Athletic Association (BAA). They don’t have to qualify for the marathon, but each needs to raise $3,000 to support the Ashland Select Board community funding program, known as the BAA grant program. Last year Ashland had 22 entries who raised a total of $71,332.20.

Ashland’s Aleksei Shabalin will be one of the 12 “bib” runners on April 18. To support him and the other Ashland runners, visit www.ashlandmass.com/927/2022-Runners.

What drives these runners? Ashland Local Town Pages recently interviewed Shabalin to find out.

Whitty: Why did you start running?

For the last 20 years I’ve been doing different kinds of sports. I tried powerlifting, paintball, indoor rowing, hiking, and so forth. I also tried running a couple times, but both times it did not work out. 

The first time I tried I did not really see the reason why I was doing it, I did not have the self-motivation. As a result I switched over to running on the elliptical, because it gave me the opportunity to watch various educational videos and not get bored. 

The second time was about four years ago. But I made a common mistake for a beginner which was that I started running too intensely from the very beginning. As a result I got a few problems with joints within a couple weeks. So that attempt failed as well.

I started taking running seriously in the summer of 2020. It started out as an understandable extension of my walking exercises. Originally they were meant as the cardio training in my HIIT [high-intensity interval training] workout routine. And at one point my walking transformed into jogging.

This time a couple things added up. 1) Throughout my walking exercises I learned to enjoy being by myself, enjoy the nature and the fresh air around me, feel the movements of my muscles, and slowly ponder various ideas without the distraction of a phone or a computer. 2) I ended up running rather slowly and in a quite safe way.

All in all, my running came around kind of naturally.

Whitty: How do you stay motivated?

I believe I’m quite lucky since I like the process by itself. Losing weight, good race results, and overall wellness are just a nice addition. 

Another important bit is the fact that I get to spend time alone without devices. I work remotely from home, so there is constantly someone from my family around me. Please, don’t get me wrong, I really do love my family, but everyone needs some alone time, and running gives me that time.

We are constantly engulfed by the virtual world. We keep on using social media, phones, and the Internet in general and we do not have the chance to stop and look into ourselves. But all those things disappear when I start running, I don’t even listen to music, it’s only me and the real world around me.

Being alone and having the chance to think while also doing something that I really like is already the best motivation I can get.

Whitty: What is your experience running marathons?

This Boston Marathon will be my first marathon. As I mentioned before I only ran for just 2 years. And I did not even consider computing for the first 1.5 years. By this point I have already competed in some 5Ks, one 10K, and one Half-Marathon. In general I like competing with others, but it is not the main part for me.

Whitty: What does your practice look like?

A couple months ago I started talking with a coach who gives me directions for what to do. There are various workouts: it can be interval training, tempo runs, long easy runs (up to 20 miles), uphils, or the exercises with the body weight. Before I started working with the coach I just ran.

Usually I wake up at 6-6:15am and go to practice without any breakfast. I do a short warmup for my joints, then I run 1-1.5 miles at a very low pace, then comes the main part of the training (it can be different depending on the goal of the workout), and lastly 1 mile of cool down. So, as a result I start working at around 8:45-9:00 a.m. I tried running in the evening, but I seem to lack the feeling of freshness and the energy I feel in the morning. I prefer to run in the morning when nobody is there and the day feels so light and bright. I’m definitely an early bird.

Whitty: Why run the Boston Marathon this year?

Last year was the very first time when I visited the Boston Marathon. The sight was amazing. Both the runners and the audience were radiating so much energy. I realized that I have a new dream, running in the Boston Marathon. I wished to play a role in the event.

I knew that the Boston Marathon is the hardest world marathon to get into, save for the Olympic Marathon, and as a result I was all the more happy when I learned that I can participate in the race with the help of my hometown within such a short period of time.

Whitty: What does the Boston Marathon mean to you?

The Boston Marathon is the oldest and most prestigious of the marathons available to the public. It is the dream race for anyone that does running. I always thought that the Boston Marathon was something that no ordinary runner, like me, could be a part of. For me it is a chance to participate in a historical event, to be a part of something that is truly significant, something that unites thousands of people from across the world.

Whitty: What do you do when you are not running?

I work as a software developer for Simplisafe. As a side note, my first running competition was a virtual event organized by the company.

I have an interest in many various fields, but my most dominant one is reading. I always had a passion for reading, and there was hardly a time when I couldn’t spare about an hour a day for it. I do like to read scientific articles about psychology, biology, and physiology. I also enjoy reading sci-fi and fantasy.

My other hobbies include fishing, hiking, baking, and cooking, and working on the cars of my family. And, of course, I love my family. The time I spend with my family is priceless for me. For example, last summer the four of us traveled along the entirety of the I-90, all the way from Boston to Seattle, by car. It took about three weeks, but it was one of the most memorable events in my life.