Marathon will be milestone for this group
Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 13, 2009
It’s a family reunion of a different kind this morning as Tricia Sadler and her husband, daughter, two sisters and niece were expected to be out of bed before the sun for the Renaissance at Colony Park Half Marathon in Ridgeland.
The family gathered from Vicksburg, Jackson, Oxford and Maryland for the culmination of about five months’ work.
Most of the family have been training through Marathon Makeover, a 40-week program that takes wannabe-marathoners from any skill level and trains them for a half or full marathon in October. This is the first year the program has had a group in Vicksburg.
“Almost everybody in our group, they’ve all had such self-doubt, but they’re all doing it,” Sadler said. “You have to make a commitment to spend time on yourself — and that’s hard.”
Marathon Makeover participants meet for a run every Saturday morning at 6, and they follow a training schedule the rest of the week. Sadler kept family members all over the country on track by e-mailing the training schedules.
Marathon Makeover is putting on today’s half marathon, which is a benchmark in the program.
The family run began with Sadler, who turns 60 on July 3.
“It’s going to be my birthday present to myself,” she said. “I’m not doing it to run a marathon; I’m just doing it to get healthy.”
Sadler said her youngest sister, Kelly Finch, from Frederick, Md., is running with her as a birthday present.
Although Sadler didn’t campaign or recruit, the fever spread.
“When I told (my family) I was doing it, they were so excited about it,” she said. “They thought, ‘If she can do it, I can, too.’”
Sadler said she has always been active, but it took a back seat with the birth of her five now-grown children. The rest of the clan’s running experience varies from novice to seasoned marathoner.
Sadler’s husband, Robert Sadler, has been running for 30 years, but this isn’t just another race for him.
“This isn’t about me; this is about them,” he said. “This weekend I’m a run supporter — I’m proud of what they’ve all done.”
Sister Gwyn Neill, a former walking teacher at Hinds Community College, and niece Bonney Neill, a high school standout athlete, also are planning to run.
Finch flew in from Maryland on Thursday, and the runners drove to Jackson Friday night. At 5:15 this morning, they were to meet with other Vicksburg Marathon Makeover participants to get ready for the big moment.
“Even if you’re not ready and you’re nervous about it, you get there and it’s so fun,” said Sadler’s daughter, Chesley Lambiotte, a veteran runner.
At 6 this morning, the group was to join nearly 1,200 other Marathon Makeover participants and others for the 13.1-mile run. Although Marathon Makeover encourages walking and running, marathoners will have a 4-hour limit.
“You can walk, run, whatever,” Sadler said. “They just want you to get in the habit of exercising.”
Besides the six on the course, Sadler said more family members would be on the sidelines cheering.
And Sadler will be wearing a gift from Finch: socks, running shorts and a shirt that says, “You have just been passed by a 60 year old.”
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Contact Andrea Vasquez at avasquez@vicksburgpost.com