The Peru Gazette

By John T. Ryan

Dan and Charles compete in a high school track meet

Charles and his training partners L-R Garret Lee, Chris Boyle, Charles Remillard and Dave Marks

#58 Dan Lennon

Peru – If you’re in Atlanta Ga. on Leap Day, February 29th, you’ll find former Peru High School Track teammates Charles Remillard and Dan Lennon competing in the 2020 Olympic Marathon trials. They are among 216 men who qualified to compete for a spot on the 2020 United States Olympic Team. To gain entry into this race, men had to run the marathon (42,164 meters/26.2 miles) in 2:19 or a half-marathon in 1:04 or faster. Only three 3 men will qualify to compete in the Tokyo Olympics to be held in July of this year.

Following graduation from Peru High School in 2011 Charles Remillard starred in track at SUNY Oneonta where he excelled in the 10,000 meter winning the SUNYAK Outdoor Championship in 2014-15. After college he started running longer distances and enjoyed success in both the New York City and Boston Marathons. In the NYC with over 51,000 runners competing he finished 78th overall and second in his age group. Remillard is excited about competing in Atlanta. He said, “It’s been a goal. It’s cool to even be in a race with people who are going to represent the U.S.” Remillard won’t be running alone. Currently a middle school STEM teacher in Denver, Colorado, he has three training partners,(Garret Lee, Chris Boyle, and Dave Marks)
all of whom qualified for the Atlanta trials.

Dan Lennon graduated from Peru High School in 2012 and achieved great success at Syracuse University. In 2015 he was a member of school’s  National Championship NCAA Cross-Country Team and earned All-American honors. Between 2016 and 2018 he ran pro-track and returned home to coach the Peru High School track team during the 2016-17 school year. In December 2019 he graduated from Albany Law School and is currently very busy studying for the bar exam and preparing for the Atlanta trials.

Lennon said he dreamed of being a pro football player as a youth, but when he weighed only 165 pounds and was 5 ft. 5 in. in height at age 16 he decided the NFL wasn’t a realistic goal. Success at track came naturally. He explained, “I broke high school track records and have been thinking of running the marathon since then.” Lennon described his current training schedule. “It’s cruel. I run 110 to 120 miles a week. That’s fairly new to me. Mondays it’s 14 to 19 miles. There’s speed running twice a week. Saturdays it’s 24 to 30 miles. I run 7 days a week.” Lennon’s cautiously optimistic about his chances in Atlanta. He said, “I’d like to think I’m going to be competitive. This course is not like any other course. There are no flat sections. You’re either going up or down or making a turn.”

Both Charles Remillard and Dan Lennon will have plenty of support in Atlanta. Charles’ parents Tom and Cheryl Remillard, two uncles and two college friends will be there cheering him on. Dan’s parents Dan and Elizabeth Lennon, his girlfriend Meredith and his sister Kara’s  fiancé will be encouraging him from the sidelines.

NBC will be covering the marathon from noon to 3 p.m. on February 29th.