Students To Run Marathon

Early this morning, long before many students have woken from their Sunday night slumber, a handful of athletic and determined students will be en route to the starting point of the 109th Annual Boston Marathon.

For these prepared runners, the 26.2-mile event—which includes a quick tour through Wellesley College and a torturous climb up Heartbreak Hill at about the 20th-mile—represents the culmination of months of physically demanding training. The marathon is also an opportunity for some participants to raise money for charities and humanitarian causes.

Today, the Atomic Runners’ Collective (ARC), a group that organizes weekly runs on Saturdays and Sundays all year, has arranged for an 8:30 a.m. bus to deliver runners from both the College and the Business School to the starting location in rural Hopkinton, Mass. According to ARC Marathon Coordinator Eric T. Hoke ’06, the early departure will give the students plenty of time to rest and hydrate before the race begins at noon.

But this morning’s preparations are just the finishing touches to a marathon that truly began months ago, around the new year, when most of the runners interviewed by The Crimson made their decision to run. The students offered many unique reasons for wanting to put their bodies to the test, but a strong recurring theme was support for a charitable cause.

Some of the runners are marathon veterans looking to improve on their past performance.

“I ran it last year when I was a senior in high school and I had a great time,” said Nicholas A. Rizzo ’08, a Mass. native who is hoping to finish in under four hours. He is also a member of the Mass General Marathon Team, which raises money for research on childhood cancer.

Caitlin N. McDonough ’06, another returning marathoner, is also hoping to improve. “Last year it was really hot so my time wasn’t really good, and I wanted to prove I could do a marathon better.” There is also the external motivation of helping the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge raise money for cancer research, she said.

A different charity played a significant role in the decision of Aidan S. Madigan-Curtis ’07, one of the two presidents of Harvard China Care. The organization helps abandoned and impoverished Chinese children through surgeries, promoting awareness of the conditions, and encouraging adoptions.

“Our goal is $30,000, and we are 40% of the way there,” said Madigan-Curtis, who will be running today. “We’re hoping to reach the whole thing and it will be a real push on the day of the marathon.” She said she hopes that the positive hype on the day of the marathon will attract enough donations to reach the fund-raising objective.

For another China Care runner, Megumi R. Gordon ’05, the prospect of being a part of the historic Boston Marathon proved very alluring.

“Ever since I was five I knew about the Boston Marathon because my family is from this area and I would watch it,” Gordon said, adding that she was inspired by the sight of the runners. “This is something I really want to conquer.”

Her commitment was reinforced when she learned she could run to raise money for China Care.

“It just sounded like such a wonderful way to combine something that is individual-oriented and a personal experience with something that is a much bigger, greater cause,” she said.

For Jennifer A. Woo ’06, the cause is more personal. When she was nine months old, Woo was diagnosed with a rare and potentially fatal respiratory disease, Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis, which causes tumors to grow in the larynx and trachea and requires numerous surgeries to treat. For the second straight year, she is raising money for the RRP Foundation.

Woo added, “I am running it symbolically for the people who can’t breathe, let alone run a marathon.”

STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Making the commitment was the easy step. The runners then had to concoct and follow a rigorous running regiment that would condition them to endure the 26.2 miles.

The students independently devised similar programs. Overwhelmingly, they decided to run short distances of about five miles on the weekdays, and then indulge in a longer run of up to 20 miles on the weekend. The longer distances decreased as the marathon neared.

“Three to four weeks before the marathon, you begin a taper to drop your mileage,” said Woo, explaining that runners want to avoid overexertion and injury.

Most of the students said they follow the asphalt path along the Charles River. “For longer runs, it’s really nice when I get to run toward Boston,” said Woo.

But Gordon said that after so many miles, the scenery becomes dull.

“I run along the Charles, but it gets so boring and repetitive after a while,” she said. Instead, she and a friend who is from the area and knows the roads sometimes run to places like Belmont, Arlington, and Brookline.

“We did some great runs where we would just explore,” she said.

A common belief among the runners was that mornings are the best time to exercise, and McDonough said that an early run calms her throughout the day. But not everybody can brush the sleep out of their eyes— and legs– for an early start.

“I wish that I liked the morning, but I can’t run in the mornings because my body is far too tired,” said Gordon.

When Madigan-Curtis tries to wake up in the morning, “it’s time to go back to sleep,” she said. “I definitely run in the late afternoon and early evening, and I really like the sunset.”

EATING THE PART

Staying in tiptop shape has forced the students to make some social sacrifices.

“It’s kind of tough because you can’t really party on Fridays when you have to get up and run 18 miles,” said Stephen J. Fiascone ’08, who trained with Rizzo and is running in the marathon today.

There was universal agreement that alcohol would have to wait until after the race.

“Two weeks before the race I quit all caffeine and alcohol,” said Woo, sticking instead to “stuff that doesn’t dehydrate you and doesn’t disrupt your rest patterns.”

While the runners said they did not adhere to any specific diet plan leading up to today, most of them mentioned the importance of filling up on carbohydrates and protein during meals.

Woo said she loaded up on protein to help restore the muscle fibers broken down during training, and also buffed up her intake of zinc and vitamins C and E to ward off illness.

Several of the runners said they were planning to fuel up on helpings of carbohydrates like pasta and bread last night.

“I’m going with a couple of friends to dinner at Bertucci’s and we’ll eat as many rolls as we can,” said Gordon.

Fiascone divulged similar intentions.

“I am going to have a pasta dinner and drink as many Nalgenes of water as possible the night before,” he said.

AT THE FINISH LINE

The students are each bringing a slightly different set of goals and hopes to the marathon. Some of the runners are primarily motivated by the knowledge that their physical trial is benefiting worthy causes.

“For me, it’s definitely centered around the charities I’m going to be giving to,” Madigan-Curtis said.

Woo was looking forward to personal fulfillment, but also remained dedicated to her cause. “I really truly hope that every step along those 26 miles I can remember the cause I am running for.”

Rizzo wants to shed the memory of last year’s marathon, when exhaustive heat slowed everyone.

“After the first one, with 86 degree weather, I thought ‘I’m never doing this again,’” he said, but he decided to give the marathon another chance.

“I want to finish and I want to feel good about it,” Rizzo said. “Last year I finished, but I felt sick afterward because it was so hot and brutal.”

McDonough, who also competed last year, set a time goal for herself.

“I’d like to run it in under four hours and I’d like to have fun,” she said.

Others said that they would be happy enough to simply cross the finish line.

“This is my first marathon, so I’d like to finish without having to walk,” said Fiascone. He added that he hopes to finish alongside his friend and training partner Rizzo.

“The goal in this is definitely to cross the finish line,” said Gordon, who has come a long way since her middle school days when she took 13 minutes to run one mile.

“It’s been empowering to realize that these things that seem so large and impossible are actually within reach if you put the effort in,” she said.