Gibault Catholic High School principal Russ Hart has been running down a dream for the past five years.

That dream will be realized when he competes in the 2017 Boston Marathon, which he qualified for during a marathon in Memphis over the weekend.

The 57-year-old ran a time of 3:29:11 in Memphis, which is about 11 minutes faster than Hart needed to qualify for Boston.

“I had been sick the week before and was close to backing out, but after speaking with my coach, we thought I ought to give it a shot and it all worked out,” Hart said. “I had put in so much work to prepare. We just believed it was the best decision.”

The Memphis marathon was the seventh such race Hart has competed in. His first marathon was back in 2010.

Hart has qualified for the Boston Marathon before but had decided against participating.

“(That) was a mistake I won’t make again,” Hart said. “It is just so hard to qualify, because there are so many elements you can’t control like the weather on race day, illness and injury.”

And, of course, training for a marathon is very time consuming.

“For the last 16 weeks, I needed to be out the door by 5 a.m. to be able to finish my run and then get to Gibault,” he said. “I usually do a second workout in the afternoon consisting of a shorter run and weights.”

In addition to serving as Gibault principal, Hart also coaches the school’s cross country team.

“During cross country season, I’ll run with my team a bit,” he said.

The most recent training cycle was especially challenging for Hart, he said, because his family moved from O’Fallon to Columbia and also had extended family members who needed attention and live out of state.

“My wife, Diana, is the best,” Hart said. “(She’s) very supportive of such a disciplined schedule and grounds me when I get a bit too obsessive.”

Hart will run one more marathon before the Boston Marathon in 2017, probably in his hometown of Indianapolis, Ind.

Hart’s father likes to come out and offer support during his marathons.

“He’s a hoot,” Hart said. “We a ran a 5K together a few years ago and he decided we needed to wear our medals to breakfast after the race and we had to explain to the staff and people around us that he won his age division (he was the only one in it).”

Running is a blessing for Hart, and he doesn’t take it for granted.

“Hopefully I’ll still be doing it when I’m his age,” Hart said, referring to his father.