Beyond the classroom: Whitman teachers jump into sports by Cailey Thalman
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n an early February morning, math teacher Bonnie Butler laces up her sneakers and sets out for her morning run. The sun is just beginning to rise, and the temperature is so frigid that she can see her own breath — but that doesn’t stop her. During her eight-mile run, Butler’s ing weeks. And when she returns home, she gets ready for the day and opens up her class. This hasn’t always been Butler’s routine. In fact, she didn’t start running until she was an adult with young children. Runof the house while her husband was watching the kids, but the sport quickly turned into something she loved. She ran whenever venient because she was always on her own schedule. Butler has continued to run in order to “That’s always been something that’s really important to me, and running is a
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keep down my weight,” Butler said. During her running career, Butler has participated in a total of 30 marathons, 29 of which were the Marine Corps Marathon, an annual race that brings in runners from throughout the Washington, D.C. area and country. Butler has witnessed changes in the makeup thon, there were only about 1,200 women compared to 12,000 men. Now, the numbers are almost even. “We got off the buses on race day, and it was all men,” Butler said. “It’s not like that anymore, but that was a huge disparity. It really stuck with me.” Throughout her years racing, Butler has experienced a sense of community with other runners, especially while mourning 9/11 during the Marine Corps Marathon in 2001. The race took runners directly past the Pentagon, and many stopped on the side of the road to pay their respects for those who passed away. Butler ran her most recent marathon in
September of 2020. Due to COVID-19, the race couldn’t be held in person, so runners adapted and participated in the race virtuButler’s race was going according to plan until mile 20, when her Apple Watch, in charge of tracking her distance, ran out of battery. For the next 6.2 miles of the race, Butler had to guess her mileage. She returned home when she thought she had gone far enough to complete the race but set out again a few minutes later to run three extra miles, just to make sure she had completed the full marathon. running career has not been without its sether left foot, one of which involved repairing her achilles tendon with a cow’s tendon. Even with these injuries, Butler’s goal is to beat the record for the most Marine Corps Marathons run by any woman. “It’s like eating, drinking and sleeping for me,” Butler said. “It’s part of me now, and I won’t stop until I truly have to.” While Butler trains and races, science teacher Jasen Gohn spends his time serving
