Running a marathon is hard. Sometimes it helps to have a friend.
Several teams of runners will combine enthusiasm and perseverance to jointly tackle the challenge of running 26.2 miles on Sunday morning, the date for the annual Hogeye Marathon and Relays, which passes through the midsection of Fayetteville along the way. The 38th annual Hogeye event will attract about 1,000 runners.
GO & DO
38th Annual
Hogeye Marathon
When: 7:30 a.m. Sunday
Where: Starts in downtown Fayetteville; traverses many city streets and trails
Information: hogeyemarathon.com
Bonus: Volunteering opportunities are still available. Particularly, marathon officials seek course monitors to alert runners to changes in the direction of the course.
The groups come from all walks -- or runs, perhaps -- of life. The Hogeye has for the first time introduced a corporate challenge this year, and local organizations such as Arvest Bank, Ozark Dermatology and 7Hill Homeless Shelter will participate, said Tabby Holmes, the race director. Others, such as the one organized by former Springdale resident Lisa Phillips-Jahnke, are a little less formal.
"All we are is a motivational group," Phillips-Jahnke said -- one that cheers people on with the idea of self and community improvement.
Going by the name Team Beast Mode, the red-clad runners, walkers and volunteers first gathered at the Hogeye event last year. The team started as a collaboration between Phillips-Jahnke and two friends, one running the full marathon and another running a first-ever 5 kilometer race. The idea of the three Springdale High School alumni reuniting for an activity near their hometown appealed to them. It grew into a loose-knit organization of friends helping the marathon by providing able bodies or volunteer skills. This year, Team Beast Mode will reunite at the Hogeye, drawing in an estimated 38 people from eight states. Team Beast Mode has also supported other races in places nearer to Phillips-Jahnke's residence in Virginia but not with the gusto it has locally.
"The Hogeye has just kind of been our place," Phillips-Jahnke said.
Shirts made bearing the Team Beast Mode logos will turn into profits the group has decided to donate to two organizations. The Kendrick Fincher Hydration for Life in Rogers will receive half of the donations, as will the national Ainsley's Angel charitable organization, which pairs disabled runners with able-bodied runners to experience the thrill of the race jointly.
For Phillips-Jahnke, the time it takes to complete the race matters less than the thrill of accomplishment. She's recently been sidelined by an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, but she'll fight through that to run the last leg of a four-person Team Beast Mode relay team. She completed the half marathon last year.
Holmes, the race director, said many other teams will work together to finish one of the races, including the official Hogeye training group and an organization that calls itself the Java Joggers. They meet Friday mornings for coffee and distance runs.
Team Beast Mode, like other groups participating in the various race events, serves as the inspiration for each of the members to reach a goal distance.
"It's just a mentality," Phillips-Jahnke said. "You've got the guts, the tenacity, the determination to accomplish your goals."
NAN Life on 03/26/2014