Late in March, spring training took on a remarkable double meaning for Colin Bennie.
The former Wachusett Regional running standout traveled from his adopted California home to Florida, while he was in the heart of his training before tapering for the 129th Boston Marathon.
"I had some good workouts down there," said Bennie, who on April 21 will again toe the starting line in Hopkinton as a professional competitor. "It was a nice break from running around San Francisco."
Yet Bennie also happened to be in Jupiter on business for his new real-world job — as data engineer for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball.
"I had the opportunity to see the posting last fall, and I've been there since December," said Bennie, whose baseball-playing days were limited to Little League in Princeton, pitching, catching and playing center field. And yes, he collected his share of stolen bases.
Bennie, who turns 30 in June, completed work on his second master's degree last fall, in data science and data engineering from the University of San Francisco. He works from home and catches up with the Marlins organization every so often. He'll visit Miami sometime in May, expects to be on hand when the Marlins visit the Giants in late June and hopes to be at Fenway when Miami plays the Red Sox Aug. 15-17.
Though he works in a department at which old-school baseball enthusiasts (curmudgeons?) often curse, Bennie enjoys the challenge working in MLB baseball research and development, where the Marlins have a full-time staff of 19.
"We find ways to make available all the data," he said. "We offer the infrastructure to analysts, to give them the tools to assess potential future draft picks, among other things. I'm on the side of preparing data and making it available."
Bennie has balanced well a thrilling involvement in two pro sports, with a true test coming last November, when he became engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Abbie McNulty, also a pro entry at Boston this year. He was going through the application process with the Marlins then, and also had finished 12th in the New York City Marathon earlier that month.
Princeton's finest was the fifth American finisher in Central Park in 2:11:16. His personal-best marathon is 2:09.38, in 2020 in Chandler, Arizona.
"I was really happy with that," Bennie said of his NYC debut. "The race has a crazy energy, it's another beast running through New York City. It's quiet on the bridges, but once you get off it, it's pretty much all noise."
And aside from a hiccup at the U.S. Half Marathon Championship March 2 in Atlanta (20th, 1:03.25, "it was less of a quality result, but I feel it was still a fine training marathon exercise"), Bennie is pleased with his prospects for Boston.
"All is well, feeling fit," Bennie said. "I don't have to worry about injury issues, so that's a good spot to be in. My fitness is on a par with where I was when I ran my first two Bostons, maybe even a little better."
In October 2021, Bennie was the top U.S. finisher at Boston, seventh ...
