One-hundred-and-ninety-three members of the Tufts Marathon Team finished the 110th annual Boston Marathon on Apr.17, 2006.
Students, alumni, parents and other friends of the University joined President Lawrence Bacow to complete the run from Hopkinton to the finish line in downtown Boston.
The team ranged from a seventy-four year old veteran marathon runner to three-year-old Ruthie Scott, pushed in a stroller by her mother, Rebecca Scott.
Some, like Michael Nash (LA '73), had experience running marathons, including the Boston Marathon. Freshman Adam Santos, like many others, had never run more than four miles prior to training.
Each member had his or her own individual reason for participating.
Volunteering for the 2005 race inspired sophomore Marissa Maren. While watching last year, she thought, "if 20,000 people can do it, I can."
Freshman Amanda Casale ran to raise money for a children's hospital in honor of her cousin who was diagnosed with leukemia. Her uncle was originally supposed to run, but he broke his ankle. "I'm running in his place," she said.
For freshman Benjie Moli, it was more about taking part in an event he had witnessed throughout his childhood. "I grew up right off the route and when I was little I always watched it," he said.
For whatever reason people decided to participate, the commitment was daunting. However long the 26.2 mile course may seem to non-runners, it is run in a blink of an eye compared to the process that brought the team members to the starting line.
"We've been training since September," said Don Megerle, former Tufts swimming coach and current director of the President's Marathon Challenge.
On Sunday and Wednesday, the team completed runs in the morning. On Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, the program offered indoor interval training.
"I've made a 23-week training program," said Megerle, now in his second year at this position. He made sure the schedule allowed students "a lot of time to recover."
The training program began with a few minutes of brisk walking, followed by 20 minutes running at a relaxed pace. It ended with running 26.2 miles.
The program used running, other exercises, advice on food, and inspirational quotes to prepare everyone for the race.
Training was actually easier than many anticipated. Moli attributed this to the fact that "everything is so well organized."
Community within the group also helped training.
"The concept of a team has really evolved," Megerle said. "We promote the word "team" in all of our e-mails."
Even those who no longer attend the University appreciate the sense of community. Hwuyjung Choi (M '91) found running the marathon something that "keeps [her] connected to the school."
As the director of the Marathon Challenge, Megerle plays an important role.
"I'm like a mother hen to these kids," he said.
While other runners might not put it in those words, runners expressed appreciation for Megerle's work.
"Don is the nicest guy," Santos said. "It would not be possible to do this without him. The support he provides is ridiculous."
Even with the built-in support from the group and Megerle, the past 23 weeks were hardly a cakewalk.
According to Casale, waking up for some of the morning runs during the winter was challenging. "When the weather was really bad, there were times I didn't want to do anything."
The snow, sleet and freezing temperatures didn't stop the team, however. "We run right through everything," Megerle said. More than a hundred team members even completed their qualifying run during a snowfall.
The program also offers therapeutic physical therapy to treat runners for different ailments, a "huge success" according to Megerle.
Miriam Nelson, a member of the team and an Associate Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition, delivered lectures to the group throughout their training.
To take part in the President's Marathon Challenge, each student needed to raise $1000.
Alumni and friends of the university were required to raise $2,500 dollars.
Last year a total of $360,000 was raised; this years' total is expected to exceed $400,000.
The money goes to the Friedman School and used for "student aid, faculty development, and research," Nelson said.
In the week leading up to the race, "marathon fever" took over, as Nelson put it.
Even Bacow, who has completed marathon in the past, found himself obsessing over it. "I think about it before I go to sleep at night and when I wake up in the morning," he said.
On Sunday night, a dinner was held for all runners and their families. Nelson, Megerle and Bacow were all present to give some last-minute advice.
Bacow reminded the runners to "be smart."
"There are two halves to the Boston Marathon: the first twenty miles and the last six," he cautioned.
Anticipation was running high at the dinner.
"I just really want it to start," Moli said - a sentiment echoed by many.
While some set a goal of finishing the race in under four hours, each person had different goals. Some wanted to avoid walking, and some just wanted to finish.
"[My goal is] to be vertical at the end," Bacow joked.
Whatever the goal, the determination was clear. "I'll seriously crawl the last mile if that's what it takes," Casale said.
On Monday morning, the team left Tufts at 6 a.m. and boarded a bus to Boston. From there they were bused to Hopkinton on official marathon buses.
Once in Hopkinton, they, along with the rest of the 10,000 runners in the second wave, started at 12:30 p.m.
Runners wore a "champion chip" attached to their shoelaces, used to track their progress.
The chips signals at the start and finish of the race to track runners' progress, as well as at several interim points.
Even with perfect weather conditions - the day was overcast with highs in the low 50s - the 26.2 miles were grueling. According to Megerle, runners passing mile nine looked "fresh as a daisy" but by mile 26, they were "beat up."
Each runner had their own story of cramps and muscles aches along they way. Some had to walk, or even sit at points, but out of 194 Tufts runners, 193 finished the entire
course.
Some runners say that fans' support was a big motivator. "The best part was every two steps people were yelling 'Go Tufts!'" Santos said.
Between the community bond developed between race members and the support received at the actual race, Taylor found that this was "an amazing way to run a marathon."
Senior Andrew Leskey said that despite feeling physically awful, he was glad to have run the marathon. "Just going out there was so much fun," he said. "I don't even care about my time now."
Megerle, who coached them through it all, was very pleased with the final results. "They really did great."
