Marathon Woman

Pacific assistant athletic trainer Alma Sproul is now among the thousand who can say they have completed one of life's most challenging physical exercises.

Sproul completed her first marathon on Sunday. She finished the Portland Marathon in a time of 4:49:16, putting a cap on six months of training. A runner since her college days, Sproul said she was inspired by seeing a picture of Andrea Stewart, the athletic department's manager of administrative services, completing the Portland Marathon in 2006.

"Andrea had a picture of herself crossing the finish line at the marathon," Sproul said. "From that point, I decided I just needed to do it."

Sproul followed the training program provided by Portland FIT, but sometimes had to balance training and her job by getting up at 4 a.m. to complete training runs. She is greatful to her colleagues, head trainer Linda McIntosh and assistants Phil Lentz and Richard Rutt, for being willing to adjust their schedules to get her runs in.

Marathon day was certainly a challenge, but in end worth it. "During the marathon I was wondering if it was worth the pain," Sproul said. "It was probably the longest five hours of my life, but as soon as I crossed the finish line I had never felt prouder of myself. I never thought I would actually run a marathon, and now that I have I may try it again."

"It gave me an accomplishement to work towards and I think it made me a better person and athletic trainer," Sproul said. "I would definitely advise training for something that is important to you, whether that be a marathon, triathlon or anything else. Just knowing that you van accomplish anything that you put your mind, body and soul into is a great feeling."

Congratulations Alma on a job well done and a great goal attained!