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Want to tell the difference between someone who has run a marathon and someone who has not? Only a novice will ask, “Did you ever have to walk?”
That’s the theory Pepperdine marathoners have bought into.
“Anyone who has run a marathon knows that the question, ‘Did you run the whole way?’ is silly,” said Mike Anderson, visiting lecturer of physical education and professor of Pepperdine’s marathon training class. “ ‘Did you finish?’ is more appropriate.”
Using the run/walk ratio program developed by Olympian and marathon expert Jeff Galloway, all 29 Pepperdine students running in the L.A. Marathon March 2 crossed the finish line.
After a short break at the end of Pepperdine’s women’s soccer season this fall, senior Tasha Spangler started training for the marathon over Winter Break.
“It’s a different type of training,” Spangler says. “I had to change my mentality to do a run/walk ratio because in soccer you don’t walk. That’s quitting.”
But the 26.2-mile duration of a marathon requires a special mindset. The Pepperdine students started training in September, making the long preparation process similar to the demanding experience of the marathon itself.
“I was not nervous before the marathon, but I was not excited either,” senior Carah Barbarick said. “I knew it was going to be hard.”
Sophomore Jen McMonigle faced her fears of the daunting race by asking for divine help.
“I felt like I should have been getting an adrenaline rush at the starting line but I wasn’t,” McMonigle said. Instead, she prayed, “God you’ve got to get me through this because I cannot do it on my own.”
Anderson said that he all too often sees too many runners who train for six months, just to get ticked off when they don’t reach their goals.
“It’s not worth it,” he said.
Barbarick, on the other hand, ran as a memorial to her friend and former Pepperdine student, Amy Ecker, who died March 3, 2002, the day of last year’s L.A. Marathon. “I ran it because I know it is something that she will never be able to do again. It’s such a blessing to be alive.”
With the maximum effort required in running, runners approach the Marathon with motives beyond the ultimate goal of finishing. It was not about the money. None of the Pepperdine students set their goal for the $25,000 purse and free Honda Accord, valued at $25,300, for first place. Instead, they each paid $70 for the opportunity to run.
After watching her older sister run two L.A. Marathons, Spangler sought to gain her own sense of accomplishment. McMonigle, who uses running to fill her void as a former three-sport high school athlete, determined to take her participation in her new sport to its highest level.
Running in his sixth marathon, Anderson’s goal was to qualify for the Boston Marathon with a time of 3:10. He finished in 3:01.
At the starting line, runners swarmed and the entertainment boomed. Live bands played, NBC’s live broadcast rolled and cameras flashed.
Even though the first three miles were the toughest for McMonigle, Barbarick surprised herself with how good she felt as the run began.
“I never doubted that I would finish, but then I wanted to give up by the third mile,” McMonigle said. “I was at this point where I questioned, ‘I don’t know why I’m doing this.’ ”
The grind of the marathon caught up to Barbarick. “I bonked at about mile eight and then again at mile 16,” she says. “The heat took its toll at mile 8, and by mile 16, it was the farthest I’d ever run.” Because of the temperature from the beginning of the race, and a headwind that picked up later, Anderson called the marathon on Sunday the toughest he’s ever run.
The distance began to wear on Spangler at mile 19, and at mile 20, she knew that if she continued her run/walk ratio, it would be too hard to start running again. She continued to run, finishing the marathon in 4:31.
Other marathoners chose not to know their times, deciding to measure their success on more important factors.
“I made a pact with my running partner that we would not look at the time because it was not about time. It was just about completion,” Barbarick said, who synchronized crossing the finish line with her partner. “I would never run a marathon by myself.”
Spangler also ran with a partner. “Running that long of a distance by myself isn’t fun. I would have done it, but it wouldn’t have been easy.”
With runners’ first names printed on their bibs, the crowd could read their names as they passed.
“It was such a blessing because these perfect strangers were cheering your name as you ran by, ‘You can do it Carah,' " Barbarick said.
Little neighborhood boys ran small stretches alongside the runners, and women in high-heals cheered the runners on as they scampered across the course to get to church. High school and middle school cheerleaders took their positions on the sideline, and observers climbed into trees.
Pepperdine marathoners gave the crowd high-fives as they ran by. Anderson created some ambiance of his own by splashing volunteers handing off water as he continued running by.
“I’d find a young punk who I knew could take it,” he said.
McMonigle and her partner altered their running pace, their run/walk ratio, and tried an extended walk period in an attempt to stay together for the entire 26.2 miles. But at mile 21, the grueling length of the marathon forced McMonigle’s partner to walk the remainder of the race. McMonigle continued and completed the course alone.
As each member of the Pepperdine group crossed the finish line, they achieved the goal they worked toward for the last six months.
“I’m really, really proud of myself and everyone else who ran it,” Spangler said. “I don’t regret it at all. It’s now nice to say ‘I’ve run one.’ And I now have a lot of respect for anyone who has run a marathon.”
Now the recovery process begins. With pain in her hips, legs, and feet, McMonigle says, “I feel like an old person.”
McMonigle is keeping her options open for running the marathon again. Barbarick plans to continue to train for and run in 10K races, but she and Spangler think this was their first and their last full marathon. However, Anderson says he may run the Boston Marathon this summer.
With this accomplishment completed, all of the Pepperdine participants will be asking future marathoners, “Did you finish?”
Submitted March 13, 2003
MALIBU, CA
