Once you've run one marathon, the rest are easy

By Ethan Smith - Leader Staff

Looking for a real New Year's resolution? Try running your first marathon.

For five local runners, the experience proved to be as challenging, painful and rewarding as they'd imagined it would be when they made the trek to Bellingham, Wash., last October, to compete in the trek of their lives.

Polson residents Heather Knutson, Dani Anderson, Melissa Chowning, and Sarah Hartsoch, and Missoula friend Kobi Gibbs, all ran in their first marathon that weekend, and it cost them a couple toenails, some bruised ankles, achy joints and days of recuperation — and they couldn't recommend it enough.

"I think anyone can accomplish it, whether you train for it or not. If you set a goal to complete one, even if it means walking 50 percent, you can do it," Hartsoch said.

And set a goal they did. It started last summer when Hartsoch and Knutson ran the Missoula half-marathon. After finishing it with what they characterized as relative ease, they decided to set their sights higher.

"Heather and Sarah were driving back from their half marathon and texted [text messaged] us and said, 'We're doing a full marathon,'" Anderson recalled.

"We thought we were crazy — the longest we'd ever run was about 10 miles, but we ran the half marathon, and it felt good, and we said, 'Hey, let's do a full one,'" Hartsoch said.

Whatever hesitation any one of the group might have had, the spirit of confronting a shared challenge made the idea of completing a full marathon that more attainable. As they trained along the way, they'd have to confront their physical limitations, smoke from local forest fires, skeptical friends and family, and a host of other challenges before they even set foot on the course.

Summer training

Running a marathon requires a certain amount of preparation, and while Knutson and Hartsoch were avid runners, the other women were not, at least not the type of people that wake up one day and say "Gee, I think I'll run 26 miles."

But they all focused on the goal as a positive step forward in their lives, an accomplishment that few people in the world can say they've done. And with that, they each began to train over the summer.

Armed with T-shirts from Total Screen Design printed with a Chinese symbol that, loosely translated, means "moving forward," they starting working towards their goal of running a full marathon.

Anderson and Hartsoch both have asthma, and that presented a special challenge. While smoke from area forest fires made it difficult for even runners with 100 percent healthy lungs, it's absolute havoc on those with asthma, Anderson said.

"Sarah and I have both had it for our whole lives. It was definitely a factor in our training. I had to go inside and use a treadmill, instead of jogging on the roads, and that's definitely not the same. Also, that meant I hand to juggle the gym with my work schedule," she said. "That just ticked me off, and it gave me an excuse not to run."

In addition to asthma, Hartsoch was facing the fact that she had injured her foot doing the Missoula half marathon. But she set her sights high. For her and Knutson, the two most avid runners, it wasn't about whether or not they'd finish, but whether they could do so in a four-hour time limit.

"My goal was to run the marathon in four hours. The longest run I had between the two marathons was 10 hours, so I knew I could do the 26 miles," she said.

Knutson had the same enthusiasm, and wanted to push herself to get a good time, not just finish.

"I knew I would be able to finish it. Sarah and I were just completely jacked up after finishing the half marathon," Knutson said.

Anderson and Chowning weren't so sure. While Chowning jogs occasionally, she'd never contemplated a marathon, and Anderson hadn't done any competitive running since high school.

"I thought I would be crawling across the finish line," Chowning said.

Some of their friends and family had their doubts, too.

"There were some family members that said 'You can't do this,'" Knutson said, although most of her family was supportive.

"We had some people look at us and tell us right to our face, 'You can't do this' or 'Why are you doing this?'. My parents supported me, but there wasn't always that much support from other people," Anderson said.

"I'm kind of a loner, so I don't really listen to what other people say anyway," Chowning said.

'When you actually look at 26 miles …'

After months of training, the women made the trip to Washington, where they stayed with Hartsoch's brother and his family the night before. Hartsoch's brother, Jake, had run his own marathons, and was a big supporter.

"He was in complete awe," Hartsoch said. "A really big supporter."

The day before, the women decided to view the course by driving it.

Big mistake.

Although the course was beautiful, it really hit home to them just how long 26 miles was.

"My advice is don't reset your tachometer to see what 26 miles is. That's like driving from Ronan to Dixon," Knutson said. "When you break it down into training runs — 10 miles, 15 miles — it makes it seem shorter, but when you actually look at 26 miles … We were all in the car, and we just got silent."

There was no turning back at that point. Sure, anyone of them could have backed out, but that would have been letting each other down. Still, there was definitely some self-preservation there.

"I figured if I didn't tell anyone I was running, and I didn't finish, it's all on me. I didn't want someone coming to me and saying, 'Oh, you didn't finish,'" Anderson said.

As the women looked at the course, they realized how challenging it was. While the Missoula half marathon involved running on flat roads, the Bellingham course was an "out and back" one, with running trails and steep hills, not smooth pavement — a far cry from Missoula.

They each had their own thoughts as they went to bed that night, preparing for the next day.

"I was nervous. I didn't sleep because it was mainly my idea," Hartsoch said. "I was concerned nobody would talk to me the next day."

"The night before I thought, 'Maybe I should call my parents just in case I die,'" Anderson said with a laugh.

The big day

The big day dawned cold and rainy — the worst weather to run a marathon in.

Along the way, each woman battled her own demons. Chowning had to deal with severe heartburn from the high-performance chocolate energy "goo" — essentially large amounts of sugar — runners were given along the way. Anderson and Hartsoch had their asthma to deal with, and Hartsoch had her injured foot. The sugary water was another factor for Anderson, while they all had to confront the nasty weather and the fact that their socks and shoes were soaked with water.

"The weather was bad, but the worst part was that you run by the finish line, but you still have three miles to go. You can actually see the finish line," Knutson said.

But the course design allowed them to see each other as they went, so that was motivating.

"We started at the beginning, all together. You are in this huge mob of people, and then we would see each other randomly in different spots, passing back and forth," Anderson said. "Everyone was so encouraging, cheering each other on."

Anderson made a mix of music for their iPods, and they all got a boost from that, Knutson said.

"Some courses don't have that, where you can turn and see someone while you are running, so that was nice," she said. "The trails had good footing, and the leaves were gorgeous, so that made it easier to deal with the weather."

"My foot was bugging me, but once I finished the first half, I thought 'Oh, this is a piece of cake.' I knew if I could make it through the first 13 [miles] I'd be OK,'" Hartsoch said.

And in the end, they all made it. Knutson and Hartsoch finished ahead of the others, and cheered them on as they finished up.

"It was raining at the end, and my feet got soaked, and my socks started to rub, and then I saw the others," Anderson said. "I was so jacked up when I finished — just the sense of accomplishment. I just wanted water, and to jump in the shower and get warm."

"I wanted real food, not the stupid stuff they gave you on the course," Knutson said. "That's what I was thinking about when I finished."

"I wasn't tired — it was just the high of accomplishing it. My mom, dad and brother were all cheering me on. It was a really emotional moment for me," Hartsoch said. "We were all tired, but I was super hungry. I don't think I craved a specific food, I was just really hungry."

So was Chowning, but she clenched her teeth through much of the marathon, and the resulting jaw pain prevented her from really gorging like she wanted to.

"I couldn't eat for four or five days afterwards. I wanted to eat food so badly," she said. "But after it was all over, I knew I'd been through worse things before."

The aftermath

Chowning's jaw was just one aspect. All of the women had sore legs and tired muscles, as expected. Knutson lost a toenail — not unusual for marathon runners whose toes are subject to repeated slamming against the shoe's lining. Hartsoch's knee was hurting, and most of them had some lower back pain.

But they all got through it.

One of the fun parts was that they made an actual trip out of it. Why go all the way to Bellingham if you aren't going to go the few extra miles to Spokane to do a little shopping?

"I would recommend to anyone to make an event out of it. You can do a marathon almost anywhere, but make it a trip. Plan some sightseeing or a short vacation or whatever. Don't just go and do the marathon," Knutson said.

So, they went shopping.

"Everyone was walking a little funny the next day for the shopping trip," Chowning said with a laugh. "I think I'm losing a toenail, too."

But they said they'd do it all over again, in a heartbeat.

They also said anyone can do it.

"You have to be smart about it. You don't need a certified trainer, but a training plan helps," Knutson said.

(Knutson is leaving Friday to run her second one, this time in Arizona.)

"Train more than six months if you can, but stick to your training plan," Anderson said.

"You just have to have the mindset, 'OK, let's settle in and do this,'" Hartsoch said.

"I knew going into it that I wasn't going to run the whole thing. I ran as far as I could, then I walked some, and then ran some more," Anderson said. "I've had asthma my whole life so I knew that would be a factor. You just have to know your limits. But if I can do it, anyone can."

And that was the best part for all of them — the sense of accomplishment, and overcoming the personal and physical challenges that running a marathon represents.

And that's what life is about, moving forward, one mile at a time.