Participants taking on the 26.2 miles of this year's President'sMarathon Challenge will find themselves better-supported than inprevious years, if several changes to the project achieve theirintended effect.
Challenge officials have changed the date of the qualifying runto give participants more time to train, and they have added anexperienced new coach to the training team.
The "biggest change" is the addition of a new coach, 33-yearveteran coach of the men's swim team Don Megerle, according toChallenge veteran Professor Miriam Nelson of the NutritionSchool.
Megerle temporarily left his position as men's swimming coachand now operates under the title Director of the President'sMarathon Challenge.
Nelson said that Megerle would provide the professional coachingexpertise missing from the current training team, comprised ofherself, Eric Johnson of University Advancement and ProfessorChristina Economos of the Nutrition School
"He's an awesome coach, and will be invaluable in helping withthe training program and giving us strategies for training and forrace day," Nelson said.
Megerle agreed the program was lacking in this area. "Some ofthe runners get in really good shape, but they're never taught totone down the training to get in their best shape ever," hesaid.
He also said the training team could use a more accessiblemember. "[Nelson, Johnson, and Economos] all have their own jobsoutside of this and off this campus. It's important to have someonewho is available all the time," he said.
"These runners need someone to read times to them, encouragingthem and explaining things to them," Nelson said. "This adds awhole new dimension to the running - you're not just running,you're running for a purpose."
He said the rest of the training team is "tremendously helpfulwith the runners." Megerle will participate in a series of seminarsto educate runners, Johnson said. Other members of the trainingteam will offer seminars on runners' nutrition needs whiletraining.
The Challenge's timetable has also been pushed forward to giverunners more time to train. This year's qualifying run will takeplace on Nov. 21, whereas last year's was in December.
"This will give everyone more time to work up to the mileagebefore they finally have to commit," Johnson said. "We had a lot ofrunners drop out late last year."
This year, runners will be given a chance to train up to andduring winter break, and those who leave will be replaced by peopleon a waitlist, Johnson said. The number of runners will not befinalized until mid-January.
The training team is enthusiastic about this year's challengeand Nelson pointed out that the weekly practice runs, which beganthree weeks ago, have steadily attracted more runners.
"I've been receiving a positive response from campus from thepresident's e-mail, and also from people around in the community,"said Megerle, who handles correspondence about the race.
Mergerle said a large part of his task as director of theChallenge is to reach out to alumni and students of all of Tufts'schools. Training programs will be run in San Diego, San Francisco,and New York City to accommodate alumni no longer living in theBoston area.
He predicts "an overload" of interested runners this year.
Nelson says that they will probably have about 200 marathonrunners this year, including 50 to 75 students, "depending on howmany show up," she said. The rest will be parents, faculty, andalumni.
Last year, Tufts entered 167 runners.
Nelson said she is optimistic about this year's marathon. "Wehave more support this year and we've worked out a lot ofglitches," she said.
The President's Marathon Challenge began three years ago. Allparticipants are obligated to raise at least $2,500 to supportvarious programs at Tufts. A limited number of slots are open forpeople who feel they can only raise $1,000.
