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Relations contact: Jimmy Hart, 615-898-5131 or Jimmy.Hart@mtsu.edu
MURFREESBORO — MTSU
accounting professor Paula Thomas headed to Boston Friday, focused not on the
roughly 1,100 miles of flying ahead of her but the 26.2 miles of running
awaiting her on Monday, April 15.
The avid runner will join about 20,000 other runners for
this year’s Boston Marathon, continuing a passion that started in her late 20s.
She’s already run 70 half-marathons — 13.1 miles each — across the country and
remains just four states shy of her goal of running a half-marathon in all 50
states.
While her first attempt at the Boston Marathon, this isn’t
Thomas’ first brush with it. She volunteered for three years at the event while
her son attended college there — two years at the start line and one at the
finish line.
“I’ve seen the atmosphere, you know, and those people are
serious,” she says with a chuckle. But so is she.
To run in the Boston Marathon, you must either achieve a
qualifying time or raise money for a charity. Thomas is running as part of a
group in support of the American Medical Athletic Association, a nonprofit that
encourages healthier lifestyles among physicians and health-care providers and,
in turn, among their patients.
Thomas acknowledges that she got into running “a little
later in life.” An aerobics class that she signed up for while pursuing her
master’s led to a habit of running three miles three days a week.
Health is important to her as well; she comes from a family
with a history of heart disease. Her dad died suddenly at age 54, she says, not
long after receiving an award “for looking the youngest” at his class reunion.
Since running the County Music Half-Marathon in 2001 in
support of a local nonprofit, Thomas hasn’t looked back. At age 56, this will
be Thomas’ second marathon; her first was in 2010 at the Disney World Marathon
in Orlando, Fla.
She recalls it being so unusually cold in Orlando that
January morning that the water at the water stations along the route was
actually frozen. She loved the atmosphere.
“I love to run when it’s cold,” she says, noting that
research indicates temperatures in the low 50s make ideal running conditions.
Weather tends to be the X factor in Boston, making every
year an adventure, although the notorious hills along the course also must be
reckoned with.
“I’m not terribly afraid of hills, but the hills at Boston
come toward the end,” Thomas says.
To prepare, Thomas has done plenty of hill running since her
marathon training began in December.
“I probably shouldn’t say this, but it actually wasn’t that
bad,” she says. “I’m excited.”
For live streaming of the race on Monday or for more
information about this year's race, visit www.baa.org.
About MTSU
Founded in 1911 as
one of three state normal schools for teacher training, MTSU is now the oldest
and largest public university in Middle Tennessee. With an enrollment of more
than 25,000 students, MTSU is the largest undergraduate university in
Tennessee.
MTSU remains
committed to providing individualized service in an exciting and nurturing
atmosphere where student success is the top priority. With a wide variety of
nationally recognized academic degree programs at the baccalaureate, master's
and doctoral levels, MTSU takes pride in educating the best and the brightest
students from Tennessee and around the world.
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