Running a marathon might be tough on some people—especially those who don’t have an objective. According to Brian Shaoul, Transitional English teacher, one should set a goal and work hard for it; however, one should never overtrain. Shaoul is just one of a handful of members of the Titan community who have run a marathon.

Diana Starcevich, English Department secretary, explained that she ran her first marathon just for show because she did not initially believe that she could do it. However, later on, Starcevich said that running marathons became a hobby that she can never let go.

“I intended to only run one marathon just to say I did one,” Starcevich said. “When I crossed the finish line, I knew I was going to run more. I just [felt] it because it’s hard work.”

On May 15, Starcevich said that she will be running her 19th marathon. To train, Starcevich and many other South teachers that run marathons are enrolled in different training programs in the city of Chicago.

“I have been training, I would say, within the past five years…[almost all are] track workouts,” Starcevich said.

Starcevich and her hard work, according to Shaoul, not only inspired him to run marathons but to also train and work hard to run faster and lose weight.

“When I started out, I was 80 pounds heavier than I am right now,” Shaoul said. “[…] Having this goal of running these races is what has helped me become more physically fit.”

Not only did Starcevich and Shaoul run marathons to lose weight and stay healthy, but Robert Wysocki, English teacher, had similar motivations.

“I started running to lose weight and to get in shape, and then the longer you run you start to increase your distance you start to wonder, ‘Oh could I run 26.2 miles?’” Wysocki said.

Furthermore, senior Dana Sim says that she ran the Chicago Marathon in October 2015 not only to run but also to raise awareness for cancer. The Chicago Marathon has a lottery system, according to Sim, so entry is not guaranteed. With hopes of getting the opportunity to run the marathon, Sim joined the American Cancer Society’s fundraising team and ran on behalf of the charity.

“I have been running and I was never really the fastest, I just kept kind of running and I kept building up,” Sim said. “I did a 5K, then I did a 10K, then I did a half marathon and by then my thinking was like, ‘okay, whatever, let’s just go all the way’.”

Despite having run multiple marathons, Wysocki acknowledges that there are misconceptions surrounding the 26.2 mile race. He claims that the biggest misconception about the training process is that one will undoubtedly lose a lot of weight, which he says is not necessarily true.

“You are spending a lot of energy, but it doesn’t automatically mean that you are going to lose 50 pounds if you are training for a marathon, ” Wysocki said.   

Additionally, Shaoul claims that the biggest misconception about running a marathon is that people convince themselves that they can’t do it, but in fact, he says that everyone can.

“I think that people think they can’t [run a marathon],” Shaoul said. “I think that [you can] as long as you’re properly training, eating the right foods, drinking enough water, stretching and listening to your body. I think that it’s something that a lot of people can accomplish whether they think so or not.”