David Ortiz still has full faith in Pedro Martinez.
The former Boston Red Sox slugger told Boston.com’s Kevin Slane on Monday he believes the Hall of Fame pitcher has the best chance among his former teammates to complete the Boston Marathon. Ortiz said Martinez’s slight build is well-suited to trekking 26.2 miles across Eastern Massachusetts. However, Ortiz also explains why you shouldn’t expect “Petey” to join legions of others April 15 in running the 2019 Boston Marathon or in subsequent years.
“Pedro was the type of guy who loved the distance running preparation,” Ortiz said. “Pedro would be one of the guys that I would pick to do that. Also, remember, Pedro’s not a big guy like me, so that would probably work in his favor.”
Ortiz, 43, probably won’t run the Boston Marathon any time soon due to his size and injured feet but he believes he might have been able to finish the storied race if he tried several years ago.
“When I was younger, I used to run long distance because I used to worry so much about being able to get through all my training,” he said. “I think I could have done it, like, 20 years ago.”
Now that Ortiz has floated the idea, will the public create the momentum required to convince Martinez to run the Boston Marathon?
