Crystal Medrano
Co-Editor-In-Chief
Head of Dominican men’s and women’s cross country team Megan Vaccaro ran the longest race of her life on Sunday, Oct. 8.
Vaccaro, class of 2010, graduated with the pride of being the first Dominican student to be conference champion. She was also named the 2008-2009 Female Student-Athlete of the Year. Since graduation, Vaccaro has ran three half marathons and most recently, her first full marathon.
Vaccaro discloses why running has been a big part of her life. “ I think running is the best therapy there is. It’s gotten me through some tough times, but it has also been a part of some of the best memories of my life. I run when I’m glad, I run when I’m sad, I run when mad and I run just because!” said Vaccaro.
Finishing her marathon in 3 hours 34 minutes and 38 seconds, which was right around her goal time of under 3 hours and 30 minutes, Vaccaro explains the process leading up to the big day. “I ran about 45-50 miles a week, one long run day, one hill day, and one speed day, the rest were easy mileage days” says Vaccaro.
Of course running longer distances has got to be anything but easy. Compared to running a half marathon, Vaccaro explains that it is a lot more challenging because the hurt lasts for a lot longer. To a distance runner however, pain is nothing compared to the pride of finishing the race.
“I know I had to be mentally tough because I knew how terrible and upset I would feel to not finish, you can’t let your mind win when you feel like giving up” said Vaccaro.
When asked about how she felt during the race, Vaccaro had a wide spectrum of emotions to spill and talked me through her quest.
“The First 10 miles felt great, I felt good and there were lots of spectators cheering the runners on. Around mile 10-15 my foot started to hurt really bad and I thought I may have a stress fracture forming. Then, my hip flexor and glute were hurting so those miles were not only physically tough, but mentally tough as well. Once I got to mile 16 I thought to myself, only 10 more to go, you can do this!” said Vaccaro. “ At the last mile, even though I was in pain, I was able to pick up the pace because I knew the end was close.”
Vaccaro expressed her happiness when she crossed that finish line as not so much an accomplishment but more as a relief, ‘just so happy to be done!’ and who can blame her?
Vaccaros performance qualified her for the Boston marathon in 2019, she is still undecided if she will tackle on this challenge. She will however be running a 10k in November and another half Marathon in New Orleans in March of 2018.
For those wanting to conquer the task of a marathon, Vaccaro has some words of advice. “Long runs are very important to build up strength for a marathon. I would recommend doing more longer runs (15+ miles) and not let your mind give up!” she says.
For any runner or someone wanting to start running, she shares insight as well, “With running, mental toughness is everything. You have to have a strong mind or you will fail from the start.”
medrcrys@my.dom.edu