President's Marathon Challenge culminates next Monday

Although still in just its second year of existence, the President's Marathon Challenge has made serious treads at Tufts.

Last spring, the Tufts marathon team was only about 40-strong, but in its reincarnation a year later, it has approximately quadrupled in size. These numbers are highlighted by the diverse breadth of those runners who will participate in the Monday, April 19 race, which will mark the 108th Boston Marathon.

Toted as "an annual marathon challenge to support health, nutrition, and fitness programs at Tufts," the President's Marathon Challenge has emerged as a pet project of University President Lawrence Bacow. Participants raise funds for entities like the new F.I.T. pre-orientation for incoming freshmen, the Personalized Performance Program, research, and several other programs that cross the spectrum of health, fitness, and nutrition at Tufts. Perhaps just as importantly, though, the growing program has helped to foster a sense of community among marathon participants, support staff, and others concerned with health and fitness at Tufts.

Recently, Bacow announced that he will be unable to participate in the race as planned, due to a virus that has kept him sidelined from training. Despite Bacow's unexpected absence, this year's team still draws from across the Tufts community -- undergrads, graduate students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni. Even among those sub-groups, each athlete brings their own history, motivation, goals, and personality to the group.

Senior Angie Mae Chase Rodday, a psychology major, ran cross-country and track in high school, and though she has continued to run recreationally, has not competed in almost four years. Completing the Boston Marathon has always been a goal, but never having run a marathon, Rodday knew she could not qualify for a number on her own.

As is the case with many other members of the Tufts team, Rodday got involved with the President's Challenge in order to gain a hard-to-come-by official number and to pursue her marathon goal. Rodday said that she also considered running for various charities, many of which, like Tufts, offer numbers to those who commit to fundraising. But in the end, she opted to join the President's team.

"Nutrition and fitness research are definitely important, as well as supporting the health of college students," Rodday said.

Completing the grueling 26.2 mile race is Rodday's primary goal, and one which she feels relatively prepared to attempt, thanks to her own training and the support of the Tufts program.

"Although I run by myself a lot, I use the guidance of the training schedule that the coordinators of the Tufts marathon have suggested," Rodday said. "Firstly, I want to finish. If P. Diddy did it, then so can I. My other goal is to listen to my body and run my own race and not be distracted by other runners or people on the side."

Participating in the President's Marathon Challenge comes with benefits, including access to training information and guidance, organized group runs, and the services of Tufts' athletic trainers, nutrition specialists, and many other resources. The support and guidance of the program have made a difference in Rodday's mental and physical preparation for the race, because as most any new marathoner, she has faced unexpected setbacks and challenges.

"I'm running so much now that I'm never full, so I try to heed the advice of the nutritionist," Rodday said. "The trainer has been very helpful too. I sprained my ankle in January. It was snowy and I fell off a curb, obviously, and my ankle was ridiculously swollen for three weeks."

While Rodday is able to joke about the injury now that it is behind her, she acknowledged that it could have been a much larger problem had she not had Tufts resources available to her. Another first-time marathoner and Challenge participant, junior computer science major Andrew Bonventre, also expressed appreciation for resources like the athletic trainers.

"I've had at least five different injuries [during training] that would have been a lot worse if I hadn't gotten them treated early," Bonventre said.

Bonventre, who transferred to Tufts this fall from Case Western, ran track (mostly the 400-meter dash) at his former school, but the Boston Marathon marks his first venture into the realm of distance running.

"I wanted to have a challenge, something to focus on during the semester," Bonventre said of his motivation to join the President's Marathon Challenge. "Especially with coming here and adjusting to the new environment, it's always easier when you have a goal to focus on."

Although most of participants' training is done solo, bi-weekly group runs are organized both for training purposes and to help bring the team together.

"I've met people in the nutrition school, and a few grad students in Fletcher," Bonventre said. "I've made a few relationships through that, and met some guys on the track team in the training room. I think that it has made it easier for me to meet people and be a part of the community."

Senior Brad Callow, who also participated in the inaugural Challenge last year, acknowledged the value of the group dynamics, though he admitted to working less with the program this year, as he trains for what will be his fifth marathon.

"I do think it really helps everybody to ease into their first marathon," Callow said. "It's a bigger, better, stronger commitment for me to do it with the group. And it's a great chance to give back to the Tufts community."

Callow has also run the Disney Marathon in Orlando, Florida twice, but said that nothing compares to Boston.

"In Boston there are people lining the race everywhere, and the fans give you this high you can't get anywhere else," Callow said. "It's more glorious than any other marathon -- it's that much more powerful."

Athletic trainer Pat Cordeiro will be running with the Challenge as well, and also expressed a sense of the greatness that surrounds the Boston Marathon.

"I always promised myself that if I was going to run Boston, I would do it with a number," Cordeiro said. "Last year, after seeing those forty [Tufts] people finish, I knew I was definitely going to do it. And it means so much more that you're running for someone and something."

Because she is training for the race as well as treating fellow participants, Cordeiro has seen the Challenge from a unique perspective. While she would like to organize more injury prevention work for Tufts' marathoners in the future, she said she has enjoyed working with participants.

"Both undergrad and graduate [students], faculty, staff... It's been nice to see [those] I wouldn't normally see," Cordeiro said. "And for me to run has been amazing because when someone starts explaining what's wrong and what's bothering them, [I] can completely understand what's going on."

"It's nice to be able to raise money for your institution and to know it's going to come back to you in the athletics program in some way," Cordeiro added. "The research that it goes towards is important and I know a portion goes to the Personalized Performance Program. After seeing the success of that program here and how the results of the TLHS may change by the program that they've started here... is amazing."

Cordeiro said she is already considering running with the Challenge again next year.

"It would be really fun to do it again, just to have that sense of community," Cordeiro said. "That's what gets you through the long runs and that's what's going to get you through the race, is that community."