Technically, the New York Marathon on Nov. 1 was Sarah Bard's fourth marathon. But the Waterville native is taking a mulligan on her first, the 2006 Boston Marathon.

"I consider it my third because the first was so painfully awful," Bard said.

Not awful enough to keep Bard from making marathons a regular part of her life. Last fall, Bard ran the Chicago Marathon, and last spring she took another crack at Boston.

Last weekend's run from Staten Island through Brooklyn and Queens to Manhattan, with a quick jaunt to the Bronx before returning to Manhattan for the finish in Central Park, was Bard's best marathon yet. Bard, a 2002 graduate of Waterville Senior High School, finished the race in 2 hours, 58 minutes, 22 seconds.

According to the New York Marathon's Web page, the results won't be official until Nov. 16. That aside, Bard's sub-three-hour time was good for 46th place among all women in the race. Bard was a half-hour behind winner Derartu Tutu, and nine minutes behind Maine's own Joan Benoit-Samuelson.

"I'm really just happy with the time," Bard said. "That's something you can gauge no matter where you finish. Of course, it is mentally boosting (to finish that high)."

In Boston in 2006, Bard was nowhere near the front. Then a senior at Wellesley College, she barely had time to prepare. Bard trained for a scant six weeks. The day after Christmas 2005, Bard took off for two months of backpacking in Europe. Even when she returned, her academic workload was Bard's top priority, not running.

"I wasn't trained and I went out too fast," Bard said.

According to the Boston Marathon Web site, Bard's 2006 official time was 4:01:04.

Living in Montana in 2007, Bard started training again. She entered a distance race that had legs of 10 kilometers, 5 kilometers and a mile, and the thrill to race was back.

"It went pretty well," Bard said.

That led to Bard's entry in the Chicago Marathon last fall, and her return to Boston last April. When Bard set her mind to running New York, she already had her time goal.

"Right after finishing Boston, I made the goal to hit 2:58," Bard said, "but that was knocking eight minutes off my previous best time and 17 minutes off my Chicago time."

Bard ran Chicago in 3:15:37 and was 17th in her age group. At Boston last year, she ran a 3:06:33, shaving nearly an hour off her 2006 debacle.

"In Chicago I was very conservative early. In Boston, I was slightly less conservative," Bard said. "You have to know how to pace yourself."

Bard started the New York Marathon running six and a half minute miles, a pace faster than she needed to reach her goal of 2:58. Her pace slowed over the last four miles, but by then she could feel the finish line.

"The last four miles were brutal," Bard said. "By the time you get close enough, you really focus on keeping going."

Bard recently moved to Leesburg, Va., just out of Washington, D.C. She's in graduate school at Catholic University, studying Library Science, and is working as an assistant librarian at the Janelia Farm Research Center. She went from training in snowy Chicago to mid-Atlantic humidity.

"I was nervous about this marathon. I just moved, I had a new job and was starting school," Bard said. "My training was all over the place."

Bard is looking forward to running Boston on April 19, her fourth (but really fifth) marathon. Bard said she's more concerned with her time than her place. You can control your time, too many other factors go into where you finish.

Still, she noticed something great about finishing in the top 50 at New York.

"When you're close to the front," Bard said, "people cheer for you more."

Travis Lazarczyk -- 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com