July 26, 2010

Nate Jenkins had no excuses not to run yesterday, and he's glad he didn't.

Jenkins, of Andover, didn't run the annual Sapienza Memorial four-mile road race last year because he was preparing for the World championships in Berlin.

"It just didn't fit into the buildup," he said. "Prior to that, I never ran it because I was always either doing the big seven miler, which is usually the U.S. national championship out in Iowa or I was doing college (training)."

Jenkins, who on Aug. 20 in 2011 will be marrying Melissa Donais, the granddaughter of Tony Sapienza, who the race is in memory of, did run this year — and won.

Jenkins, 29, finished in 19 minutes, 56 seconds — 22 seconds ahead of Salem ultra-marathoner Jim Johnson. Bradford distance standouts Dave Dunham (UMass Lowell '87) and Dan Verrington finished fourth and fifth respectively in the 124-runner field.

Jenkins, who graduated from UMass Lowell, is a professional runner who placed second in the marathon at the last Olympic Trials.

"I joke with Nate because he finished seventh in the Olympic marathon trials and my grandfather finished sixth," Melissa Donais said. "So I'm like, 'My grandfather has one up on you Nate.'"

Tony Sapienza was a well-known Haverhill High math teacher who died of a heart attack in 1987, minutes after finishing a 3,000-meter race at Brown University.

"(Melissa), she's very, very proud of him," Jenkins said. "I hear a lot of stories about just how friendly he was and how into the local running scene he was. ... It's a great little event and I'm just glad to be a part of it."