Special Message for the Chapman Community

Date: June 25, 2007

From: President Jim Doti

I am pleased to announce the first annual Chapman Marathon Challenge and invite you to join me, along with faculty, staff, students, parents and alumni, in running the 2008 OCMarathon or Half Marathon.

We are reaching out to the entire Chapman community to recruit individuals regardless of previous running experience. The only requirement is a commitment to achieving this significant personal goal. Your participation will have the added benefit of supporting our Kathleen Muth Reading Center and the School of Education Literacy Programs.

We are fortunate to have two members of our sports medicine department, Lorena Tarnay and Trevor Winton, who will be coordinating the challenge. They are currently at work on a Web site, www.chapman.edu/marathon, where you’ll be able to find detailed information, including a listing of benefits to our runners. Lorena and Trevor will be guiding the team every step of the way through group training runs, informational clinics and responses to your individual questions. They will also support team members in meeting a modest fundraising requirement ($300 for students and $500 for all others) that will benefit children’s literacy through the work of our highly regarded Kathleen Muth Reading Center.

We will be following training schedules developed by Hal Higdon, training consultant for the Chicago Marathon. Coach Higdon is the author of 34 books, a contributing editor to Runner’s World magazine and a founder of the Road Runners Club of America. All participants in the full marathon will receive an autographed copy of his book Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide. And for those interested in daily guidance and motivation, Coach Higdon is offering our team members a generous discount on his virtual training programs.

You may want to look now at http://www.halhigdon.com/, where you have free access to the marathon training schedules for novice, intermediate and advanced runners that we will be following. Since each is 18 weeks long, our training for the OCMarathon will begin on Monday, September 3. Lorena and Trevor will also develop a program that will prepare beginners to start the novice schedule at that time. At Coach Higdon’s Web site you will also find 12-week training schedules for the half marathon as well as a wealth of general information about running.

The Chapman Marathon Challenge is a unique opportunity for our community members to do something to help themselves and the others around them. If you’re not into running, there is another very meaningful way to be involved. As a beneficiary of the OC Marathon, we are committed to providing volunteers to assist with the race, and there will be announcements forthcoming in the fall about signing-up as a volunteer.

All runners and volunteers will be invited, with their guest, to attend a pre-race pasta party I’ll be hosting at Chapman on Saturday night before the race.

To take up the challenge, please send an e-mail indicating your interest to marathon@chapman.edu. The first 15 who commit to the marathon will receive a pre-paid entry that includes a free pair of Avia running shoes. Once you have decided to make this commitment, it is important that you contact Lorena and Trevor at marathon@chapman.edu to sign-up for the marathon rather than sign up at the OCMarathon website.

I look forward to running together and know we’ll have a lot of fun. There is an old saying among marathoners: “The pain is temporary, but the pride is permanent.” I am well aware of the short-term physical challenges runners face, but I can assure you that the sense of accomplishment does, indeed, endure.