USU chemistry student balances schedule to run Boston Marathon
What do people do after running a marathon?
Sleep for a week? Gorge themselves? Lie on the couch and be sore?
Or start worrying about finals?
That’s what Christina Hansen did – although she was sore as well.
Hansen, an 18-year-old chemistry major, ran in the Boston Marathon on Monday. She was one of several people from USU to run in the marathon. Scott Ensign, a professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry, and Marvin Halling, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, also ran. They couldn’t be reached at press time.
The Boston Marathon was Hansen’s second marathon. The Logan native qualified by running under three hours and 40 minutes at the Top of Utah Marathon last September.
It was a big step to go to the Boston Marathon as an 18-year-old – the youngest age allowed to compete – but it was one Hansen said she had to take.
The marathon worked well in her schedule, and she wanted to do it while she still had the opportunity. Hansen said as she gets older, her classes will get harder, so she won’t have the time to go to a big marathon like Boston.
She seized the opportunity, but running in such a huge marathon at 18 was still a little trying.
“It was kind of nerve racking to be 18 and run the Boston Marathon,” she said. “It was intimidating, but it was also really cool to run in the same marathon that these world renowned champions run in. So it was intimidating, but it was a really neat experience.”
Although she may have been intimidated, she ran a pretty good time of three hours and 35 minutes. She finished 6,904 out of more than 20,000 runners, and was the 1,301st female to cross the finish line.
Not bad for only a second marathon, but Hansen said she wasn’t completely satisfied with her performance.
She said she ran a “decent” race, but thought she could have done better if the weather was better. The marathon was run in rainy conditions with occasional strong winds. Hansen said the weather wasn’t as bad as the media made it out to be.
Hansen said the marathon was harder than the Top of Utah because the course had quite a few hills.
But the marathon may not have been the hardest part of the whole experience.
As a chemistry major and an honor student taking 17 credits, Hansen had to balance her academics with her training, while still working 15 hours a week at a local grocery store.
She started training the first week of Spring Semester, right after she figured out the marathon would fit into her schedule. Hansen ran six days a week, resting on Sunday.
Every week she increased the amount of miles she ran and lengthened her long run, which she did on Monday to prepare her body for the marathon, because it was also held on a Monday. Hansen peaked at 75 miles a week, with a daily average of 10.5 miles and a long run of 23 miles. She recovered the last three weeks, running only a daily average of 1.6 miles in the last week of training.
Amid all the running, Hansen still was able to maintain her high grades. She said it was hectic, but she learned how to manage her time. The balancing act was worth it for Hansen.
“It was totally worth it,” she said. “Just running in Boston was so much fun. Just being there to see the elite runners and the atmosphere, just having everyone out there. The streets are packed with people cheering you on.”
Hansen is used to having people watch her run, but not that many. She ran track and cross country in high school, which pushed her to get into running marathons.
“I love challenges and I’ve always been passionate about running, and it was just the next step after doing sports in high school to go onto marathons,” Hansen said. “I didn’t want to stop running after high school. I wanted to keep doing something. I wanted to keep doing my sport.”
Marathons work well with Hansen’s schedule, too. She said she can be flexible with her running, something she said she may not be able to do if she were on a college team.
The Boston Marathon won’t be Hansen’s last marathon. She said she plans on competing in the Top of Utah Marathon this September and at least one every year.
“I love (running),”Hansen said. “It’s an opportunity to see how far you can push yourself. It’s not like trying to go out and beat everyone around you, but to see what your potential is, to see if you can beat your time, to see if you can push yourself to go a little faster. That’s why I love it, because you can see your improvement.”
-dabake@cc.usu.edu