Math Teachers Making a Move
More by Rebecca Liu
NEIRAD enilno edition
What do Laura Young, Steve Coppock, Felicia Bellows, and Jenna D’Agostino all have in common? Other than their love for math and ability to divide large numbers in their heads, these math teachers are all participants or will soon be participants of marathons.
Mr. Coppock is an experienced marathon runner; he ran his first marathon 22 years ago. He got inspired to start running again because Miss Young and other math teachers were talking about participating in a marathon last year.
This math teacher’s greatest achievement to date is qualifying for the Boston Marathon, which Mr Coppock will run in April. The Boston Marathon is the oldest annual marathon in the world and in order to participate, runners must meet a time standard.
To prepare for the event, Mr. Coppock trains four to five times a week, running short and long distances. “Above all, it is important to be consistent in your training,” he said.
Dr. Bellows started running when she was in college. “But I never was a fast runner, I remember being the last person in my first 5k race” she said. Dr. Bellows was inspired to run the New York marathon after watching it on television as a child, hoping one day she too would don a number and join the crowds. Dr. Bellows has run 20 marathons (eight New York, six Boston, and three Marine Corps, Hartford, Philadelphia and Chicago) since 1993. “I am so excited that other math teachers in the department are running,” she said.
Dr. Bellows calls the training “time consuming”. She runs 42 miles per week all the time but increases the mileage to about 52-60 miles per week when training for an upcoming race. The pre-marathon training amounts to one long run (16 - 18 miles) per week for about seven weeks.
Miss Young as well as Miss D’Agostino are both newcomers to marathons. Miss D’Agostino has never run a marathon before, but she plans to run her first half marathon this June. Miss Young has only run one so far when she competed in the Chicago Marathon in October. She became interested in running because she heard about how fun it was from seasoned runners, Mr. Coppock and Dr. Bellows.
Miss Young started out with half marathons and gradually prepared for the brutal 26.2 mile feat. Miss Young was not what is referred to at DHS as a trackie. In her high school, Mattituck High School on Long Island, she participated in sports but never ran competitively. In the future, she hopes to compete in the New York marathon.
Miss Young began preparing for her first marathon three months leading up to the big Chicago race last fall. She followed a strict training regimen she found online during the summer. Miss Young trained five days a week with one day of cross training, which includes swimming and biking, and one day to rest. She says, “Despite it being hard, training was my favorite part. It was fun being able to work hard for my goal. It is definitely a commitment, but once you start, you start to look forward to it.”
Miss Young plans to participate in the Breathe for a Cause road race in April supporting cystic fibrosis. The director of the race, Beth Sweeney, created the event in honor of her husband who suffered from CF. “There are many children in Westport and Darien suffering from CF and it is important to raise awareness and funds for the CF foundation” Miss Young said.
The race will take place in April at Staples High School. “I really encourage students and faculty alike to get involved in this event. It is hard work but also very fun” says Miss Young.
If you would like more information or you want to get involved, please contact Beth Sweeney at bethannsweeney@gmail.com.
