By Anna Dechert '04

At 5:30 a.m. on a crisp September dawn, lawn sprinklers are sprinkling, security men are unlocking doors and sneakers are pounding the cracked pavement and dirt roads of Historic Deerfield.

Causing this motion in the early morning calm are Assistant Athletic Director Brendan Creagh, Science teacher Toby Emerson and Steve Murray, Academic Dean and French teacher.

During the summer and into September, these three brought their ritual morning workouts to a higher level, turning them into training sessions for the Clarence Demar Marathon in Keene, NH, held in September.

It was the first marathon for Murray and Emerson. Mr. Creagh had participated in triathlons in the past. Athletic trainer Robert Graves played a crucial role, serving as the nutritional and physical therapy consultant for all three.

While many would scoff at the proposition of running a marathon, Mr. Creagh explained his theory: if you propose an idea during a morning workout, even if it's not very serious, then it becomes something you can't back out of. So when Mr. Emerson mentioned a marathon over the summer, they were left with no choice.

Over the past few years, the three have become good friends by way of their early-morning excursions on foot, bike or cross-country skis. As Mr. Murray noted, exercising at this odd hour may seem extreme, but it is the most effective way to get in some personal time without cutting out family time.

During their training period before the marathon, Murray, Creagh and Emerson were forced to limit their workouts solely to running. Considering their diverse athletic interests, this came as quite a challenge to all three.

Mr. Creagh said he felt too singularly trained, and that by the time the marathon actually rolled around, he "felt too specialized for sanity." Mr. Creagh and Mr. Emerson both singled out the boredom of these focused training routines as one of the most unbearable parts of the whole experience.

Running a marathon means three and a half to four hours of constant movement. For the first fifteen miles or so, the three stayed pretty close to each other and occupied themselves with the kind of chitchat that was familiar from their morning workouts. For the second half of the race, however, the three were more spread out. None could recall exactly what was going through their minds during the run, but they all agreed that rather than constantly thinking, they tended to get themselves into a mentality where they simply cleared their minds and ran.

Each man admitted that there was a point where the finish line just seemed a little too far. Mr. Murray commented that for the first fifteen miles, he was having fun. But after that, the only thing on his mind was how much time had passed and where the next mile marker was.

Mr. Creagh noted 21 as his magic number, saying that once he reached this point, he was simply tired. His goal was to keep a steady pace despite this fatigue. By 22 miles, Mr. Creagh felt good again and just kept his focus on finishing. For Emerson, 22 miles "wasn't pleasant," but his strategy was to keep his mind in a good place and to have that pull him through to the end.

Adding to the stress of the race, a moderate rain began five minutes before the scheduled start and continued on and off for the rest of the day. Mr. Murray says that the rain wasn't as much of an obstacle as a slight annoyance, turning the run into "a messy slog."

Mr. Emerson had a different attitude towards the weather though. For him, the water almost became more of an incentive to make him run faster and give him a more intense mentality for the day. "It added to the masochistic sense," he said.

In terms of results, all three did extremely well. Mr. Murray broke his goal of four hours, coming in at three hours and fifty four minutes. Mr. Creagh finished the race in three hours and thirty minutes. Mr. Emerson had a spectacular day. He finished in three hours and twenty eight minutes, averaging under eight minutes per mile. While all three were happy with their times, they agree that just crossing the finish line was more satisfying than seeing their times.

Looking back on the experience, Mr. Emerson and Mr. Murray both agreed with satisfied looks that it was a great experience, but that it would remain a one-time event for them. They agreed that it was a great feeling to cross "run a marathon" off of their list of life goals.

Mr. Creagh, on the other hand, could potentially see himself participating in another. When questioned if it could become an annual event for him, he answered with a very iffy, "perhaps." He said that although painful at times, "how you feel ebbs and flows. You've just gotta run through it."