Page 10 December 4, 1989 The Clarion
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A great runner coining and going — BC physical education instructor Sharon Brown, who ran in the
New York Marathon this fall, takes her daily training in stride. (Clarion photos by Laura Clark)
Sharon Brown goes the distance
She’s BC’s Marathon woman
by Libby Enloe
Sunday, November 5, while most of us
here at Brevard College were being lazy
bums, BC’s own Sharon Brown was among
the 25,000 participants in this year’s New
York Qty Marathon.
Brown, a BC Health and Physical Ed. in
structor, finished in the top 20 percent in
the women’s division. She placed 8,787th
over all. "Look at it this way,” she said
with a grin, “I beat 16,000 people!”
Along with the 25,000 people in the race,
there were around two million spectators
along the 26-mile course. “The crowds
were great,” she said, “There were bands
and cheerleaders and kids with boom-
boxes blasting rap music. The biggest
crowds were in Central Park.” The crowds
could be distracting but she said, “Being
around all those people was very
motivating.” “The people were so nice,”
she said. “It’s almost like you’re a celebri
ty for a day.”
Starting on Staten Island and ending in
Central Park, the course runs through all
five boroughs in New York City. “It’s not a
particularly fast race l>ecause of all the
people. It took 13 minutes to get to the first
mile,” said the three-time NYC
marathoner, “but it’s a great marathon
for first time runners.”
Brown, who runs all year, spent four
months training for the marathon. “Train
ing is about 80 or 90 percent of the whole
race,” she said.
Her finishing time was 3 hours, 45
minutes. “That was my best time,” she
said. “It was faster than my husband’s
time. The deal was, if I beat his 3:53, he’d
have to run with me next year.”
“I had good concentration this year,”
she said. “I was better focused.”
“In a marathon, the last six miles are
usually the hardest.” But when you cross
the finish line, she said, “...You get a
medal, a rose, a warm blanket and a bag of
food.” Brown says the feeling of ac
complishment is so overwhelming that
“...all you think of when you cross the
finish line is ‘I did it’!
And after the race. “It’s a real shock to
your body, so you have to be real careful
afterwards. I got sick last year,” she said.
“This year it took me a week to get back to
running six miles a day.”
Oddly enough she says that one of the
hardest parts of the whole experience was
the drive home, “It was hard to keep my
legs still. We had to stop every few miles to
walk around.”
Of the overall experience. Brown said,
“It was a real challenge.”
What about next year? She said, “I try to
run at least one marathon a year.” She
missed qualifying for this year’s Boston
Marathon by five minutes. “I was pretty
close. I’ll train harder next year.”
PTK holds book raffle
The Brevard College chapter of the Phi
Theta Kappa Honorary scholarship frater
nity is planning several December events.
A Christmas tree from the College will
be donated to Brian Center rest home in
Brevard, and the club members plan to
decorate it and visit with the elderly peo
ple.
Also, the PTK is holding a book raffle to
raise funds. Tickets are being sold by PTK
members for $3 each, and the winner gets
up to $200 worth of books from the Student
Store. Faculty and staff members can buy
raffle tickets too for $100. The drawing will
be held Friday, Dec. 15, at lunchtime in the
cafeteria.
SUBS
704^-3686
Student Discounts!
drinks free with sub and salad
with valid BC ID
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FOUR AND SIX—FOOT—LONG PAR TYSUBS!