STUDENT VOICES
STUDENT VOICES INTERVIEW BY
Going the Distance
Tina Lefevre
A Q&A WITH MARCUS VON RECKLINGHAUSEN ’20
O
n an overcast-turned-rainy Sunday in October, Marcus von Recklinghausen ’20 turned a one-mile trip to the Vanilla Bean Café into a fifty-mile run. Why? To prove to himself he could do it. Recently, we sat down with Marcus to learn more about this extraordinary accomplishment.
CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE RUN? I knew it was about a mile from the south end of campus to The Bean, so I decided to run back and forth twenty-five times, which would equal roughly fifty miles. Throughout the day, I took breaks to refuel and regroup — once after twenty miles, and again at miles thirty and forty. The whole fifty-mile run, breaks included, took me about eleven hours to complete. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO RUN SUCH A LONG DISTANCE? I wanted to challenge myself. Not just physically, but also mentally. When you’re running and you hit that moment of wanting to give up, when your body is telling you to quit, you find a way to block out the pain and just keep moving forward. That applies to other situations in our lives. If things aren’t going well in the classroom or on the basketball court and I get to the point where I might consider giving up, I can look back on this run and know that I’m strong enough to overcome any obstacle.
20
POMFRET WINTER 2020
DID YOU PLAN TO RUN FIFTY MILES THAT DAY, OR DID YOU JUST PLAY IT BY EAR? It was planned. In fact, the Friday before the run, during my chapel talk, I shared my plans to run fifty miles that weekend. I didn’t announce it to brag or to get attention for it. I mentioned it to create a certain level of accountability for myself. Once I told everyone I was doing it, I knew I was committed. HOW DID MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY RESPOND? Everyone was very supportive. Every time I took a break, people would come up to me to ask how I was doing. Throughout the day, the school’s executive chef, JD Mellowship, gave me tips about what to eat and made sure I had everything I needed. All the encouragement really lifted me up and motivated me to finish.
