In for the long run

 by Celeste Sepessy
 published on Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Chelsea Kent / STATE PRESS MAGAZINE

For Mary Cameron, the race has just begun.

Cameron, a mathematics sophomore, ran her fifth marathon this month. Now she's looking toward her next big challenge: triathlons.

She is one of 10 ASU Triathlon Club members who will attend the Collegiate National Triathlon in April in Alabama.

Cameron says she decided to run a marathon after watching her older sister finish one in 2004. And so, after months of training, Cameron completed her first marathon at 16. She says she was hooked.

"I loved it so much that I did another one two months later," she says.

At the 2008 P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, she ran a personal record of 4 hours, 31 minutes.

"I used to just do it to finish it," Cameron says.

But now her motivation has shifted. "I want to go to Boston," she says.

Cameron says she hopes to qualify for the Boston Marathon — a three hours, 40 minutes requirement — within the next three years.

To help reach her goal, Cameron began cross training or triathlons last July. Like marathon running, she says took to it immediately.

"I bought a bike the second week in July and did my first sprint triathlon on July 29," she says.

Cameron says the transition from marathons to triathlons was natural and easy because of the sports' similarities.

"A lot of the people at marathons are triathletes," she says. "They're very closely related because they're endurance sports."

Cameron has completed five triathlons in the past six months — most of which are the length of a quarter Ironman and consist of a .6-mile swim, a 28-mile bike and a 6.55-mile run.

Cameron cites club captain Min Wang as a crucial training partner and a source of encouragement.

Wang, a chemical engineering doctoral candidate, says Cameron is "always ready to go.

"Two days after her marathon race, she came for swim practice to 'give her legs a rest,' " Wang says. "That's how hard Mary works."

And dedicating nearly 15 hours a week to training can be difficult, especially for a serious student like Cameron, Wang says.

Cameron currently has a 3.83 grade point average, takes 14 credit hours and works as a math tutor for student athletes. Cameron, a Barrett Honors College student, will graduate one year early in 2009.

"It's a personal sacrifice that we all make, as a student and an athlete," Wang says.
Twice a week at 7:30 a.m., Cameron swims with the club, goes to class, works and finally meets the club again for a two-hour bike ride or run at 4 p.m.

Cameron says she bikes more than 100 miles a week, including weekly trips up South Mountain, spin classes and road rides with the club. She also runs two to three times a week.

Two weeks before her last marathon, Cameron drove to California with a friend for a 50-mile mountain bike ride. "Then we did a 50-mile road ride the next morning," she says.

Wang says Cameron keeps track of her commitments well and is very organized.
"I have seen her planner with all the workout and races marked in different colors," Wang says.

Ironman veteran Tracy Mulvaney also says Cameron, who "has very high standards for herself," juggles her responsibilities well.

"Mary shows that you can balance work, fitness and school all while enjoying life," Mulvaney says.

Mulvaney, a Casa Grande resident, was Cameron's middle school track and cross country coach.

"I don't think most people Mary's age have the desire, drive or discipline to push themselves to that level of fitness and competition," she says. "You don't have to be an athlete on scholarship to be an athlete."

Cameron says running is "therapeutic" and she uses the time to think and make important decisions.

"It's my 'me time,' " she says. "I can go for three hours and think the entire time."
Training provides an escape from daily life, Cameron says.

"I have to procrastinate for a project I'll just go on a long run," she says. "It's better than me piddling on Facebook — which I do anyway."

Cameron says she does not view working out as a chore or job, but instead a "serious hobby.

"I'd enjoy it even if I weren't training for a race or running marathons," she says.
But no matter what, people will still think she's insane, she said.

"As a math major, I'm used to that," she says. "Everybody says, 'You're crazy, I would never do that.' "

Cameron will always look forward to running marathons, which she said is not the case for all runners.

"The fact that I'm still smiling and excited at mile 20 is really cool," Cameron says. "That's how I know I'm going to do it forever."

— celeste.sepessy@asu.edu