16.(j) Case Study of 13 interested adults with varying ailments who accepted a Challenging invitation from a team of 'Clinicians', 'Sports Therapists' and a Public Broadcasting Station to tackle a rigorous recreational exercise activity, namely to run in 9 months the 2007 Boston Marathon
Public Broadcasting Station ("PBS") is a media enterprise that serves 355 public non-commercial television stations bringing high quality documentary to 73 million Americans each week, and to more than 100 other countries.
On 30 Oct 2007 PBS ran a 53 min documentary titled "Marathon Challenge" focusing on 13 volunteer adults -
(a) who had never been distance joggers, in fact some couldn't jog;
(b) range in age from 22 to 60
(c) live in Massachusetts;
(d) had 9 months to train;
(e) came with some normal lifestyle baggage - ailments from AIDS, Type 1 Diabetes, Depression, divorce, Obesity and post-fatality trauma.
Two seasoned, hands-on sports administrators, who each possess Talk The Walk Motivational Skills, encouraged the 13 volunteer runners to participate in a project to train for and run the world's oldest marathon, the Boston Marathon. Click on their profiles.
The 13 runner project team, labelled Team NOVA, was put together by -
i) veteran swim and running coach Don Megerle of Tufts University who guided Team NOVA's 13 volunteer runners week-by-week through an onslaught of physical and psychological challenges;
ii) former Olympian and three-time Boston Marathon winner, Uta Pippig, offered advice and inspiration to the 13 runners throughout their training;
iii) exercise nutrition and scientists at Tufts University; and
iv) the marketing acumen of NOVAscienceNOW.
Funding for NOVA projects is provided by 5 sources.
Together with their new found team-mates, Team NOVA underwent a battery of physiological tests conducted by Tufts' exercise nutrition and scientists to gauge baseline levels for -
* weight;
* maximal oxygen uptake; and
* other health and fitness factors.
These same tests were performed again at the completion of the 9 months training to chart each runner's response to increased activity (see Fit to Go the Distance).
The watchful eyes of Megerle, Pippig, and other exercise specialists, shepherd the novices from relaxed workouts to demanding long-distance runs (see The Training Calendar). Injuries take a toll, but the group meets in Massachusetts faithfully every Sunday for nine months to prepare for the big race. Physical conditioning is only part of the process; equally important is the psychological support that team members get from their coaches and from one another. "We have a lot of fun. It's almost like a love fest," says Pippig (Common Bond Support Group).
As marathon day approaches, the forecast calls for pelting rain, gale-force winds, and the possibility of snow—conditions that daunt even experienced marathon runners. On the day itself, April 16, 2007, those who have made it through training arrive at the race's starting point in Hopkinton, Massachusetts sheathed in ponchos, with dry shoes in plastic bags. Then, at 10:30 a.m., the starting gun fires, and they join 20,000 other runners for the epic race to Boston—a journey that few on Team NOVA ever dreamed possible (see Marathon Diaries).
The only "No-show" was a
Melissa White, 35 year old, who had endured Type 1
Diabetes for 30 years necessitating taking blood-sugar readings about 8
times each day and -
*
injecting insulin when her blood-sugar was too high;
and
*
eating starch when her reading was too low as Melissa could pass-out.
Melissa succumbed due to three stress fractures during training
because her pancreas wouldn't provide insulin to assist recovery from
trauma on her shins.
The 53 min doco is accessible at Watch the Program in 5 parts.
The Writer ran several marathons, half marathons and completed two IronMan triathlons. Hence, watching the above 5 parts evidences that Talk The Walk Motivational Skills are exceeding persuasive because some of the 12 runners, although highly exhilarated, would have come away from that marathon with Achilles and other joint injuries which would have taken some time to recover and in Steve DeOssie's case seemed chronic.
Marathon running is about the most damaging of the popular exercise activities known to man. None of the 8 Rigorous Recreational Exercise Activities in YELP involve anything like the constant impact of running on hard pavements. Cycling, Bushwalking, Kayaking, Swimming etc are all low impact on joints.
16.(j)(i) Summary of "Fit to Go the Distance"
16.(j)(ii) Q&A about due diligence the physios did to ensure each volunteer runner was up to the commitment
Talk The Walk Motivational Skills possessed by running coach Don Megerle and former Olympian and three-time Boston Marathon winner, Uta Pippig, were exceedingly powerful influences in Materially Altering Lifestyle through Challenging, rigorous exercise which involved a Common Bond Support Group, as the final section, titled Power of positive thinking of the Summary of "Fit to Go the Distance