Brian Sell Works Numerous Blue-Collar Jobs in Leadup to Boston Marathon
In preparation for upcoming marathon, Olympian Brian Sell has reinforced his blue-collar roots by taking jobs as trashman, plumber, cab driver and bartender in the Boston metro area.
For most marathoners, previewing the race course is an essential part of a successful race preparation, helping an athlete select the best strategy tailored to the route’s unique features. Boston’s undulating hills over the last 10 miles, including the infamous Heartbreak Hill, are famous for separating the winners from the losers on Patriots Day. After running the course two weeks ago, Olympian and American favorite Ryan Hall and coach Terrence Mahon made several notable adjustments to his training.
On the other end of the spectrum is self-styled “blue-collar” marathoner Brian Sell. An Olympian in his own right, Sell shuns cutting-edge training plans in favor of old-fashioned hard work. To that end, Sell, is previewing the course through the eyes of Boston’s rough and tumble working class. Since moving to a basement apartment just off Brighton Ave. in early March, Sell has been training while working various jobs up and down the 26.2-mile race course.
Most mornings, the Pennsylvania native can be found pounding the pavement along Route 30, getting in an early effort before heading to his day job as a trash collector for the town of Brookline. After a light lunch of Hungry Man XXL frozen meatloaf and a thermos full of New England clam chowder, Sell punches in for the afternoon shift as a supervisory plumber for the Massachusetts Highway Department, helping put the finishing touches on the I-95 Add-a-Lane project in Wellesley. Following his second run of the day, Sell takes the T to a nondescript parking garage in the Back Bay to pick up his yellow cab, collecting fares and ferrying passengers around Boston until late in the night/early morning. When he’s not driving, you can find Sell tending bar from Thursday to Sunday at The Fours Pub by North Station.
“I’ve got a fucking reputation to uphold,” exclaims Sell while pouring a Guinness for a hefty customer. “Hey settle down back there, Danny you crazy bastard! Where were we? Oh yeah. Sometimes in my blue collar life that means getting my hands dirty alongside working class Bostonians many of which are illegal Irish immigrants.”
When rumors of Sell’s training plan hit the web last week, exercise physiologists across the country almost unanimously agreed that it was foolhardy. “The human body was not made to run 150 miles a week, and all but a handful of the most elite runners can handle it,” Dr. David Martin said. “Add to that a baker’s dozen manually intensive jobs around the greater Boston area and you have a recipe for disaster. He’s basically putting a magnum-sized training load into a water balloon. Those mitochondria are literally going to pop. I would advise Mr. Sell to consume at least two Red Baron frozen pepperoni pizzas per day, just to keep the caloric and cholesterol intake up.”
Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence against such an undertaking, Mr. Sell does not seem to be concerned with Martin or any other “yuppie” exercise physiologists. “Recipe for disaster? Is that what he called it? More like recipe for desire. Try running 20 miles at six-minute pace on concrete, then stopping a tranny prostitute from having sex in the backseat of your cab. That’ll put some hair on your God damned fu manchu.”
For his part, Mr. Sell seems genuinely content with his current anti-elite training lifestyle. During a walking tour of Boston’s sewage system, Mr. Sell offered his view. “A lotta’ guys are worried about Heartbreak Hill. Not me. I’m worried about this leaky sewer main under Heartbreak Hill. Did you know Boston’s sewage system dumped untreated waste into the harbor until the 1980s? Fascinating.”
While it remains to be seen which world view will prevail next month at the Boston Marathon – the highly nuanced training plan of Ryan Hall, or the blue collar work ethic of Brian Sell – if you’re rooting for Brian Sell, just remember that you’re rooting for the trashman, the bartender, the plumber and also the cabby who conned you out of $5 by taking the long way.
For what it’s worth, this reporter is taking Ryan Hall by a city mile.