Written by Rebecca Harrell
The average person might run for two, three or even six miles; these lengths are not unusual or uncommon. It is, however, an entirely different ballgame to prepare for a marathon. But millions of people across America train for these runs, and many students on campus do as well.
Two such students are Stephanie Frazier and Natalie Metz. Both are planning to run the Country Music Marathon in Nashville April 25. The exact length of the race is 26.2 miles, and there are several rules the participates must adhere to. These include being able to complete the marathon in less than seven hours and being in physically good health. Both Frazier and Metz meet these criteria, and both said they are looking forward to the run later this month.
“I am very excited,” Frazier said. “I think it’s going to be a great experience. I’m excited to push my limits and complete my first marathon.”
Metz said she felt the same way.
“I’ve always wanted to run a marathon, just never perceived it to be during college,” Metz said. “It gives me a chance to get outside and be active for a while, which is great when all I’ve been doing all day long is studying and sitting in classes. It’s an amazing stress reliever. I had a blast running the half marathon, and it wasn’t as challenging as I thought it would be. So why not run a full if I have the ability to do it?”
Both Frazier and Metz said they are long-time runners who have trained for races before this one, and they know to start early.
“I am training because you cannot just run a marathon any day,” Frazier said. “You need to prepare for long runs. I started training for the marathon during Christmas break. The training starts off pretty easy, but as the marathon approaches, the time and energy put into training increases to two or three hour runs on the weekends.”
While training for the marathon, these two students are juggling school work, outside activities, social lives and other problems. For some people, just the thought of training for a race would cause added stress. But for these two athletes, it is a way to release that stress and calm down.
“Running is liberating,” Frazier said. “I run because I enjoy it.”
Metz said she agreed.
“I love to run,” Metz said. “Even when I’m not training for anything, I still run.”
The Country Music Marathon is a large event. With more than 23,000 participants, Metz and Frazier are going to be surrounded by people who share their love of running. More than 7,500 of those participates will be competing in the actual marathon.
Since they have both been training for this run since Christmas, they will most likely not have any problems during the marathon. Frazier and Metz said because they love running, this should be a fun, exciting and rewarding time for them.
“I feel very accomplished after completing a long run,” Frazier said.
