For Boileau, It’s All Been a Long Haul : Marathon: Canadian runner will go for his third victory in Los Angeles race on Sunday.

Art Boileau, a world-class marathoner, stopped at customs during a visit to Calgary, Canada, last Christmas.

“What’s your occupation?” the border guard asked.

Boileau paused.

“I couldn’t tell him that I was a professional marathon runner because I didn’t think he’d believe I can make a living running,” Boileau said.

So Boileau lied, saying he was a student.

Actually, Boileau earns a comfortable living running in two or three marathons a year.

A full-time runner, Boileau is sponsored by a shoe company that signed him to a two-year contract after he won the 1989 Los Angeles Marathon.

“I think I was cooked until last year, and then I won the L.A. Marathon and they gave me a new contract,” Boileau said. “There’s not a lot of security in (marathon running). You’re only a hamstring pull away from an eight-hour workday. You’re only as good as your last race. As soon as the next guy wins a race, sponsors are all over him.”

A two-time champion of the Los Angeles Marathon, Boileau has earned $100,000 and two cars for winning the 26.2-mile race. He will be back to defend his title in the fifth Los Angeles Marathon Sunday.

Boileau won the 1987 Los Angeles Marathon, and won again last year when Gidimas Shahanga, who led for much of the race, slowed to a walk after developing cramps in a hamstring. He finished fourth.

Mark Plaatjes, who was running strongly, dropped out with blisters 18 miles into the race. Boileau, running a conservative race, took advantage of the misfortunes of Shahanga and Plaatjes to win. Boileau ran 2:13.01, well over the course record of 2:10.19, set by Martin Mondragon of Mexico in 1988.

Although Boileau won, he was overlooked by sportscasters broadcasting the race.

“I was watching (the race) on TV wondering where Art was because he was never mentioned by the commentators,” said Bill Dellinger, Boileau’s longtime coach. “They kept talking about the top three guys, and all of a sudden (Shahanga) was way out in front, and they kept talking about how he was going to win it easily.

“They never mentioned Art till all of a sudden I saw this guy go running by. I recognized it as being Art, and the people on the TV didn’t even know who it was. I don’t think he should have been overlooked. But it’ll probably be that way again this year. They’ll be talking about the guy who’s going to win it, but watch out for Art.”

Accustomed to the cooler climate of Eugene, Ore., where he trains, Boileau is hoping for similar weather Sunday because he doesn’t run well in warm weather.

In 84-degree heat at the 1984 Olympic marathon, Boileau, running for Canada, wilted and finished 44th. Running in hot weather at Seoul, he finished 28th.

“When it gets hot, I just run so conservative,” said Boileau, 32. “Last year it was warm and I adjusted my pacing. But sometimes I’m too conservative. You don’t want to cut your throat, but you’ve got to run aggressive.”

After finishing sixth in the two-mile at the 1976 Oregon high school track meet, Boileau didn’t think he was good enough to make the track squad at the University of Oregon, so he didn’t go out for the team.

“I had just come out of high school and I had the perception that you had to be star to run for Oregon,” Boileau said. “I didn’t know if I really belonged here.”

But when Boileau enrolled in a jogging class taught by Dellinger, the Oregon track coach, Boileau impressed the coach enough that Dellinger asked him to join the track team.

Overshadowed by teammates such as world-class runners Alberto Salazar and Rudy Chapa, Boileau felt intimidated in workouts.

A steeplechaser and 10,000-meter runner, Boileau ran for the Ducks from 1976-79. He also ran on the cross-country team, which won an NCAA championship in 1978 and was the NCAA runner-up in 1977.

“Art could have been a star in any other program,” Dellinger said. “But in the program with those guys, nobody knew who he was.”

Boileau blossomed into a good marathon runner after he graduated.

The year after he left Oregon, he ran 2:13.38 in his first marathon, finishing sixth in a low-key race at Eugene. His breakthrough came when he finished 11th in the 1983 World Championships at Helsinki in 2:11.30.

Boileau ran a personal best of 2:11.15 and finished second in the 1986 Boston Marathon behind Rob De Castella.

“I always think, ‘If De Castella hadn’t run it, would I have won?’ ” Boileau said. “I don’t think so. He was so fit that year that he beat me by 3 1/2 minutes. He went out hard and took a lot of guys with him. By the 18-mile mark, I was jumping over dead bodies.”

After winning the 1987 L.A. Marathon in 2:13.08, he didn’t compete here in 1988 because of a dispute with promoter Bill Burke over appearance money.

Salazar, a former world record-holder in the marathon, said he isn’t surprised by Boileau’s success.

“Art’s one of those guys who has kept working hard, and he’s continued to improve,” Salazar said. “Starting out, he didn’t have the credentials that other guys had in college, but whereas a lot of those guys burned out, got injured or didn’t continue to improve, Art’s gotten better and better.”

Said Boileau: “Marathon running is an older man’s game. As you get older, you fine-tune your training program and eliminate what doesn’t work. You get stronger with age.

“I think I’m getting better every year, but you kind of wonder how many more good years you have left. I think I’ve got three or four more good years left because I haven’t really abused my body like some guys have. I’ve always trained with the long term in mind.”

Dellinger, who has coached Boileau for 14 years, doesn’t think he has reached his potential.

“One of the ingredients to being a great distance runner is patience,” Dellinger said. “You grow into being a great distance runner, it doesn’t happen overnight like a miracle. And Art’s patient. He’s taken the time and has been willing to put in the work and sacrifice that’s involved to grow into being better and better. And right now he’s one of the top marathoners in the world.

“You can achieve stardom too soon. Unless you’re hungry, you have a hard time running, and I think Art’s still hungry. He still hasn’t received all the recognition due him, and I think he would like to win the New York Marathon and win a gold medal in the Olympics. He still has that burning desire to want to be better because he hasn’t reached the top yet.”

On a recent afternoon at Oregon’s Hayward Field, a dozen of the Ducks’ current and former distance runners met for a workout.

The group included Dan Nelson, a former NCAA champion in the steeplechase, Boileau and Salazar, who is attempting a comeback after several years of inactivity because of injuries.

“All of us know that workouts mean nothing as far as proving anything,” Salazar said. “The people that are looked down upon the most are people that do great workouts but can’t come close in a race. Those guys are workout kings.”

After warming up, Boileau led the group on an eight-mile training run at a six-minute mile pace along Prefontaine’s Trail, one of the many running trails along the Williamette River.

Boileau kept the group loose during the run with his constant chatter and jokes.

“Sometimes the hard part running along with him is that he’s got you laughing so hard that you’ve almost got to stop because you’ll be hurting so much,” Salazar said.

Returning to Hayward Field, they did another five miles on the track, at a five-minute mile pace.

Sensing that the pace was too fast as he called out splits, Dellinger told them to slow down. But they paid no heed, increasing the pace to 4:20. Despite the pace, Boileau ran comfortably.

After the others had finished, Boileau ran two extra miles. Boileau had already run 10 miles in the morning.

After two days of easy workouts, Boileau and the group would have another hard run.

A three-time Olympian and former Olympic track coach, Dellinger doesn’t believe in excessive training for a marathon.

“I don’t think you train to run a marathon, you train to run a 5,000 and 10,000 and you race a marathon,” Dellinger said. “When you start training to run a marathon, you tend to run too many miles.”

Boileau met his future wife, Ranza Clark, while running.

A Canadian Olympian in the 800 and 1,500, Clark met Boileau at a meet in Saskatoon, Canada.

Although Boileau was born in Edmonton, Canada, his family moved to Portland when he was 10 and he has remained in Oregon. But he retains his Canadian citizenship.

“We just started warming down together after a race,” Clark said. “I didn’t really know him and I didn’t know much about men’s running. Other than my own event, I didn’t even follow track very much.”

The relationship blossomed after Clark moved from Calgary to Eugene to attend Oregon.

Boileau and Clark will be married in May. Clark wants to honeymoon in Africa, so they can run in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, which is home to some of the world’s great distance runners.

Clark doesn’t plan to accompany Boileau to the L.A. Marathon.

“I’ve never gone to L.A., and he’s done so well down there that I feel if I go and he doesn’t do well it’ll be my fault,” Clark said.

So, she’ll be waiting for a call after the race.