In The Locker Room With...

Jake Lubarsky

Not every Oberlin student can say he has run 26.2 miles in a single day — let alone in four years. Junior Jake Lubarsky will run in Cleveland’s marathon on Sunday, and endure the worst case of nipple chaffing he’s ever had.

So Jake, tell me a little about the marathon you are running in.

JL: Well, I’m running in the CVS Cleveland Marathon, and it’s on Sunday, April 29th. Um, there will probably be about 10,000 people running in it, and it’s a qualifier for the Boston Marathon.

What are your chances of qualifying?

JL: I probably won’t qualify. To qualify for the Boston Marathon in the 18-34 age group, you have to finish under three hours and 10 minutes.

What? You couldn’t do that?

JL: Well, it would be pretty hard for me. I’m just doing it to finish.

What kind of training have you been doing to get in shape for the big race?

JL: Well, I’ve been training for about 11-12 weeks, which actually isn’t that long. I’ve just been running a lot, getting one really long run in a week, and usually taking one day off. I’ve been running up to 55 and 60 miles a week.

Why do you put yourself through that amount of torture?

JL: Well, I played ultimate frisbee since my freshman year, and this year I didn’t play and decided to take a break. I just needed something to pass the time.

That’s some way to take a break. So you don’t run cross country or track here at Oberlin?

JL: No, I don’t run cross country or track. I’ve always played ultimate frisbee, and just now started running casually. I started running recreationally in high school and the only race I ever ran in was a 10K, which wasn’t really a competition.

Has anyone else in your family every trained for a marathon?

JL: Well, no. My family is pretty active but they’re not really into endurance. 

Do you have any role models for running?

JL: I’ve gotten a lot of advice from runners [senior] David Bevacqua and [senior] Erick Mallea. I don’t know if I’d call them role models, but I’m definitely grilled them for a lot of information.

Have you ever seen the movie Forrest Gump?

JL: Yeah, I’ve seen it, but I don’t have any plans to do any sort of running like that. I think [Sunday’s marathon] is going to be the longest form of running I ever do.

So what else do you do in your spare time? I hear you play PlayStation a lot.

JL: Yeah, we just got rid of our cable, so we rediscovered PlayStation.

Do you have any good running games?

JL: No, just Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2.

Do you ever got a song stuck in your head for a few hours while you’re running?

JL: Well, since I started training I’ve been listening to a lot of Creed and Rocky soundtrack.

What do you think about while your running?

JL: Well, I run for such a long time that it’s really quite a Zen thing. After a while, you realize that you weren’t thinking about anything, you were just listening to your feet hitting the ground.

Dude, that’s incredibly boring.

JL: I don’t think it is. It’s nice to get out and see the farms and stuff around here.

Do your nipples ever get chaffed while your running?

JL: Well, this one time, it was really crappy and cold and I was wearing two shirts. When I got back to my room from running, there just these red marks and streaks coming down my chest. I couldn’t feel it, though. One of my friends said I could have breast-fed a vampire.

Have you ever gotten attacked by any dogs?

JL: Dude, the dogs around here are crazy.

So are you gonna’ sprint out and be in front of the Kenyon dudes?

JL: Yeah man, I’m going to sprint out straight ahead and have my dad take my picture so it looks like I’m way ahead.

Just concentrate on finishing. Just finish, my friend.

Do you think you should be interviewed? Well how about letting us know. You can doooo it. E-mail Zach at zachary.pretzer@oberlin.edu.