Midterms over, Yalies take on marathons

This Sunday at 10:50 a.m., while most Yalies sleep off the effects of a late Saturday night, a handful of ambitious Bulldogs—Alex Thomas, CC '01, Dave Brown, SM '01, and Julia Paolitto, BR '01—will take on the 25th annual New York City Marathon. A week later, on Sun., Nov. 12, four Saybrook sophomores, Jessie Rossman, SY '03, Louise Davis, SY '03, Katie Cole, SY '03, and Emily Hurstak, SY '03, will run the Ocean State Marathon. Pete Heenan, TC '03, will forego The Game in order to run in the Philadelphia Marathon on Harvard-Yale weekend.

Most runners, regardless of their experience, began training for the November races in July. Their typical training schedule mandated a run of varying lengths five or six days a week; the key components of the work-out are speed work, hills, tempo training, and a longer run each week that eventually builds up to 20 miles. Heenan says he's been enjoying the training. "It's great, because there's something different every time."

The Saybrook women worked out and ran together during their freshman year and found that they held similar paces. At the end of the spring semester they began to plan on racing in the Ocean State Marathon this fall, which is said to be an excellent race for beginners, since the course from Warwick to Providence, R.I., is relatively flat. These four friends all have experience with distance running and thought it would be great to train towards a specific goal. All four trained solo during the summer and joined forces at the beginning of the semester to run. Davis commented on the unique group bond: "We're all really good friends. We basically live together. I think that for everyone it's been nice to have something to strive for. If we make it through this one, we're planning on racing together for the next few years."

Hurstak says training as a group has made the work a lot easier. "We do pull each other along. And you'd be surprised—[training] isn't as much running as you might think. It's broken up really well." The group runs five days a week, and always includes a long run on the weekends. They train together most of the time, but whether or not they will stick together on the course remains to be seen. "We'd really like to run together, and we're all about the same pace, but its going to come down to how we feel during the race. We're just going to listen to our bodies," Hurstak said.

Thomas and Brown have not had the luxury of time to prepare for this weekend's race. Both are lightweight rowers and have had to find time to train outside of lengthy crew practices. In order to ready themselves for the 26.2 miles, they run in the mornings, on days off, and save the long run for Sundays. For Thomas, the training road to race day is a familiar one. He ran a marathon two summers ago before his sophomore year, and decided early last year to run again. "It's fulfilling to finish a race. It gives you a definite sense of accomplishment," he says.

Some marathon competitors have strong histories in running cross country and track, while others are new to the racing scene. Heenan only got involved in the running circuit last spring. He participated in a wilderness education program last semester, and started running at the end to stay in shape. A summer of 10-K races and a few half marathons motivated him to begin training in July for the Philadelphia Marathon. "I hadn't run much before this summer, but I totally got into it. The running community's cool." Having never been coached, he had to learn on his own each step of the way. "I relied a lot on this one website for a training guide. Now my goal isn't just to finish, but to qualify for Boston. That would be very cool."

Running a marathon obviously requires extensive training and dedication. And while these athletes need to stay focused and motivated in order to complete the training regiment, they also need to make sure they do not over-train and injure themselves. The right balance is different for everyone. Most runners suffer minor shin pains along the way, but it's nothing that a bag of ice can't help.

Whatever the pain, these Yalies hope it will be less than the rewards of finishing a race. With their training and perseverance, the homestretch will be more rewarding than sleeping through Sunday brunch.

Graphic by Sarah England.

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