Why you should run a marathon

Home Opinion Why you should run a marathon

One Sunday morning a few falls ago, I woke up alert, anxious, and excited — the same kind of feeling I got as a child when I woke at daybreak on a summer morning ready to dash around Anaheim’s Disneyland park. This particular Sunday morning promised every ounce of mayhem as those summer days, but this time, I would not dart after every costumed character I saw. Instead, I locked my eyes on the 8:45-per-mile banners bobbing in the hands of hired pace-keepers, and chased them through the streets of Chicago.

Marathons are legendary. Simply saying the word conjures fear, awe, and respect for those who have attempted one, while also evoking an image of an emaciated world-class athlete simply gliding. Not much about that October morning confirmed that image: Though world-class athletes did glide over the streets, 40,000 runners of all sizes, ages, and talents running also ran behind them. One year, a man even ran the Chicago Marathon with a foam Eiffel Tower structure strapped around him.

It takes a stroke of madness to sign up for a marathon. It is, however, one of those challenging experiences that is worth attempting. Running is known to reduce stress, sharpen focus, and improve mental stamina — things that could be helpful for college life.

Olympian runner Steve Prefontaine once said, “You have to wonder at times what you’re doing out there. Over the years, I’ve given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.”

To many who commit to run a marathon, the race itself is only the climax of months of preparation — and, if they were dedicated and smart with their training, the race is hardly a struggle in comparison.

I began lightly training for the Chicago Marathon in January after taking a break from running. I had finished my cross country season for Hillsdale the past December, and decided to resign from the team. I signed up for a half-marathon in June in Vancouver, Wash., just north of my hometown in Oregon. I knew I needed a goal sooner than the October marathon. I was used to 10-to-12-mile long runs on the weekends during cross country season, but that half-marathon marked the farthest I had even run.

In the following months, I built up mileage and tried to have faster runs. It was grueling. I often wanted to skip the long-distance runs — the most important runs for marathon training — but the thought of comfort on that October morning alone kept me running.

Any determination I had did not ward off the miserable runs — they are like old bad jokes now. Like when I ran seven miles out on a road and could only make it three miles back; I had to walk the last four miles because my legs would not take me any farther. Or the runs I had to squeeze in around class when I got back to Hillsdale. Or the 85 degree, summer afternoon run when I ran around Seattle trying to find 18 miles worth of pavement to carry me to the end of the run. When I hobbled into my sister’s apartment afterwards, I collapsed on the floor, slurped down a 24 ounces protein smoothie in practically a gulp, and then floated in the pool for the next hour.

It was entirely taxing and exhausting, but without those experiences, I wouldn’t have known how important food, directions, hydration, and patience were to long distance running — and how rewarding it could be. Those months of training, however difficult, led to one of my most profound learning experiences.

Those months prepared me for that early October morning when I timidly ate my bagel on the train from a friend’s house in Hinsdale to the heart of Chicago. Runners of all ages and types spewed from all directions, streaming into the start corrals as the sun rose. A couple anxious minutes passed and then the gun went off. The pack of 40,000 runners followed Columbus Street north from Millennium Park and off on a tour of the city.

The only thing left was to trust the training I had committed to and to enjoy being with the thousands of people lining the streets — it was almost a contest among Chicagoans to determine which part of town could rally the largest cheering crowd — and then thrive with thousands of runners each trying to reach the same goal: 26.2 miles.