Runners qualify for Boston race

Oberlin sends five to Memphis Marathon

Cross country runners have a twisted sense of fun. After a tiring fall season, five members of the team ran themselves to exhaustion in the Memphis Marathon, finishing with times fast enough to qualify for the Boston marathon. And loved it.

What is running in a marathon like? "It's very painful. It's excruciating," said senior Max Rankenburg, who also competed in the San Francisco Marathon last summer. But the glory of completing a 26.2 mile run makes the ordeal worthwhile. "I do it for the thrill," said Rankenburg. "Finishing a marathon is a real rush."

"It was one of the hardest things I've ever done," said junior Manda Gillespie. "When I finished I had a sense of elation incomparable to anything else. I wanted to do it again and again."

"It seemed sort of terrifying at first," said senior Kit Wells. "But once I got into it, it was just a huge, long workout."

Senior Alex Dawe and junior Maggie Russell-Ciardi also competed. Everyone ran in the 20 to 24 year-old age bracket. Dawe finished 25th overall and 2nd in his age group with a time of 2:46. Wells finished with a time of 2:50.11, 4th in his age group and 30th overall. Rankenburg finished 65th overall and 7th in his age group.

Russell-Ciardi finished with a time of 3:37 and finished 3rd in her age group. Gillespie finished 2nd in her age group with a time of 3:36.

"We did very well there," Wells said. "It was exciting to see everyone run a marathon distance."

The marathon was a small one, with 1,000 racers, but the pack was a fast one, Wells said. For Wells and Gillespie, the Memphis Marathon was their first, and both hope to compete in more marathons.

"I'm getting more interested in longer and longer events," Wells said. "I'm coming to the point where I want to do them all the time, . . . . You don't have to be superhuman to [compete in a marathon]. You have to be consistent and determined."

After cross country season ended, the runners went for long, slow runs every few days. "I didn't train very well," Rankenburg, who was recovering from injuries, said. "There wasn't any organized training. Positive thinking - that was my training."

On Nov. 17 first-years Colin Fishwick and Alexis Olsho ran in the Cleveland Fall Classic, a half-marathon. Both said they enjoyed the experience and were pleased with their times. "I liked it a lot," Fishwick said. "I liked it better than shorter distances."