One-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Ryan Briscoe is working to formulate his 2022 racing schedule, but it likely will include one of the nation’s most prestigious events: The Boston Marathon.
Briscoe, who turned 40 in September, qualified for the 26.2-mile foot race by completing this month’s New York City Marathon in less than the standard for his age group (3 hours, 10 minutes). His time was 2:57:06, good for 475th place among 13,576 men.
With such a strong showing, passing on an invitation to run Boston might be too much to turn down, he said.
“I’m fully into it,” Briscoe said of road racing on foot. “I grew up running as part of my training, but I never had a plan. I’d run a 10K (6.2 miles), max, and then mix it in with cycling and weights.”
Briscoe was inspired to train regularly in 2018 as his wife, ESPN broadcaster Nicole Briscoe, began preparations to run a half-marathon (13.1 miles).
“I saw that and really liked it, and I got addicted to it,” he said. “(Running) is easy, and it’s fulfilling.”
The 126th Boston Marathon will be held April 18, 2022.
Briscoe has completed three marathons, two in New York. He was proud of his time in the Nov. 7 race, but he was even more proud that Nicole completed her first race of that distance. And, she did so in the same year she had surgery on both knees.
“She’s a fighter and will never back down from a challenge, and this was no small feat!” Briscoe wrote on his Instagram account following the race. “Double knee surgery this year and a longest run of 13 miles before today … she crushed it!”
Additionally, their oldest daughter, Finley, completed her second 5K race Nov. 20. Her first was last month. By definition, that makes the Briscoes a racing family, he said.
The question is, what’s ahead for Briscoe’s auto racing career? He competed in four sports car races in 2021, including the Rolex 24 At Daytona (with Scuderia Corsa) and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (with Glickenhaus Racing). He said it is probable he will return to both programs next year, but he wants to be behind the wheel more often.
“It was a bit too quiet of a year,” he said. “I need to be in a car more.”
Briscoe spent several weekends at INDYCAR events as Dalton Kellett’s driving coach, and there were casual conversations about Briscoe competing in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge with AJ Foyt Racing, but that didn’t happen. Briscoe said the allure of Indy remains strong for him.
The most recent of Briscoe’s 10 Brickyard starts came in 2015 with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Briscoe won the pole for the 2012 “500” with Team Penske, and he has twice finished fifth (2007 and 2012) in the Month of May classic.
“I’d love to do Indy again if something could come together, but I don’t know if it will,” he said.