Boltz Trained in Snow to Run in the Sun : Race: Disgusted with Australian methods, the race runner-up spent the winter in Switzerland.

The winter snows came early to the Alps this year, giving Daniel Boltz reason to pause. Although he was born in Switzerland, he spent the past five years enjoying an endless summer as he shuttled between homes in Bern and Sydney, Australia.

Hoping a warming trend would effect Switzerland this year, Boltz decided to remain in Bern. Instead, the Alps were draped in snow for the past two months.

He had plenty of opportunity to practice snowboarding. Running was another matter.

“I couldn’t do much speed training,” said Boltz, who finished second at Sunday’s Los Angeles Marathon in 2 hours 11 minutes 10 seconds, 41 seconds behind winner Mark Plaatjes. “I was just tramping snow. It was a bit of a handicap.”

Boltz, 28, plodded through the snow on two-hour runs. His biggest fear was slipping and breaking a bone on the icy roads. “I couldn’t just sit there, I had to do something ,” he said.

He also ran 200-meter sprints in a pedestrian tunnel along the banks of the Aare River.

Which made for what?

Boltz, who moved to Australia at 8, is not quite sure. Preparation for his seventh marathon took a training detour. In the past, he said he planned every detail six months in advance. For this race, he just went with the flow.

“I didn’t know what to expect this time,” he said. “I knew I could run 20 miles, but I didn’t know what pace I could run. Had I known I was in 2:11 shape, I would have gone with him (Plaatjes) at the start. It was more of a shock then anything.”

Plaatjes broke from the field at the six-mile mark and never relinquished the lead. It did not occur to Boltz to make a move until three miles remained. By then, Plaatjes led by more than 30 seconds.

Still, Boltz thought he could close the distance. He had visions of winning until the last mile.

“I think he (Plaatjes) might have gotten a second wind in that last mile,” Boltz said. “I didn’t think about that (winning) anymore.”

It was a satisfying finish nonetheless. With Sunday’s performance, it seems Boltz’ career is about to turn upward.

His time qualifies for the Track and Field World Championships next September in Tokyo, and his chances of competing in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics have improved.

But he will be wearing the red and white colors of Switzerland when he competes in the prestigious international races, even though he started running in Australia at 10.

Boltz represented Australia in 1985 in World Cup at Hiroshima, Japan, but became so frustrated with the country’s selection system that he bolted to Switzerland.

He said that although he won the 1987 Australian championships and was the country’s third-best marathon runner, he was not picked as one of three athletes to compete in the World Championships that year in Rome or in the 1988 Seoul Games.

“They took somebody else slower than me,” he said. “I think it was wrong. They should have a trial and make it fair. I could never get in. I was living in New South Wales, and Victoria is the center of running. They basically just took Victoria people.

“Even now in Australia you have to pay for your trips if you want to go away and run. To represent Australia, they send you a letter and say, ‘Congratulations, you made the team and you must pay two grand.’ I was just struggling.”

The Swiss athletics federation pays Boltz $400 a month to train and gives him a car. The federation paid for his trip to the United States. The investment has had a high return; Boltz’s time Sunday broke the Swiss marathon record. It was his fastest marathon by almost two minutes.

Boltz said his biggest obstacle was the distance. He struggled just to finish marathons until Sunday.

At the 1988 Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Boltz ran a pedestrian 6 1/2-minute-mile pace for the last two miles. He still won. “They had to put me in a wheelchair afterward,” Boltz said. “I won but I couldn’t walk another step. I could never (run) at the pace that I did today. I thought, ‘Gee this is a bit strange. What am I doing?’ ”