The long lines behind broken treadmills at Cousen's Gym this winter may be indicative of a ballooning number of students training to run this year's Boston Marathon.
The annual President's Marathon Challenge (PMC), which works to raise money for Tufts' nutritional medical research, has aided the high level of participation by helping hundreds of Tufts' runners train for the run. In its 6th year, the challenge will bring the largest college team to the Boston Marathon in April.
While the first Tufts marathon team ran in 2003 with just 25 runners, this year's team has peaked at 200 participants, causing the group to turn away potentially interested runners due to an official entry limit given to the university by the Boston Athletic Association.
In addition to the roughly 200 participants running in the race, Tufts expects to field an equal number of volunteers to staff the start, water stations and finish line of the marathon. These volunteers register online and receive official race clothing in exchange for their day's work.
PMC's coach and director is Don Megerle, who took the position after a 33-year career as the men's swimming and diving coach. Having coached student athletes to national championships and all-American status, Megerle is one of Tufts' most distinguished athletic coaches and has received five New-England Coach of the Year awards.
According to Megerle, the size of the Tufts team is unique. "The Tufts program is the largest of its kind, several times the size of Harvard's and other much bigger Boston area universities," he said.
Megerle has also worked to transform the PMC into a year-round activity. Shortly after the day of the race in late April, Megerle begins organizing summer runs for students, faculty and alumni who are nearby during the summer. When most students return to Tufts in September, training is in full swing: Runners participate in weekly organized runs that eventually move onto the course itself.
And while University President Lawrence Bacow is taking this year off from the marathon, he still attends many of these early morning training runs.
While many runners do the majority of their training independently, the group runs are used to build a sense of community between PMC participants. Senior Whitney Wiegand, who is returning to the program for her second marathon, said that she enjoys going to the organized runs when she's available.
"I go to the group training sessions when I can; it's nice because they are always available to the runners but attendance is very flexible with your personal training schedule," Wiegand said. "It's a great way to calm your nerves by getting some experience on the course and to meet other runners."
Wiegand also said the team atmosphere is a driving force come marathon day. "Seeing all those yellow jerseys at the start and along the course is inspiring and helps drive you through those really difficult parts towards the end," she said.
The fundraising component of the challenge is equally prominent. To cover the financial responsibilities of earning their entry bid, student runners each raise at least $1,000 from sponsors, and non-students raise at least $2,500.
This year, the money raised will be given to the Friedman School of Nutrition's research into childhood obesity and other outreach programs. According to Amber Hansen, a Freidman school student training for the marathon, the money that the PMC raises can really make a difference to local charities.
"Childhood obesity is a serious problem and the PMC makes a significant contribution to the Friedman School's research capacity," Hansen said. "The PMC helps facilitate programs like Shape Up Somerville and other community outreach efforts."
According to Megerle, while all runners rise to the challenge of meeting the sponsorship goal, many find ways to raise more than the minimum requirement.
"The response to our fundraising efforts is tremendous each year," Megerle said. "Raising that much money for such a good cause, and the tremendous challenge of running the race, brings an incredible sense of accomplishment to each runner and myself as well."
