Sprinting to first period: Teachers compete in sports outside of school

Beyond the classroom:

Whitman teachers jump into sports

by Cailey Thalman

On 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. Run of 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 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 virtu Butler’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 set her 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

and swinging on the tennis court. When Gohn was a teenager, he stumbled upon the sport in a summer gym class. He picked up a tennis racket and immediately fell in love with the feeling of contact between the tennis ball and the strings of his racket on a perfect forehand shot, he said. He ultimately decided to join his high school’s tennis team, turning his pastime into competition.

Gohn has continued playing tennis in his he said; he loves getting his heart rate up and pushing himself in ways only sports allow him to. After the coaching job for Whitman’s boys varsity tennis team opened up, he found himself with another avenue to continue pursuing his passion, he said.

During normal school years, Gohn would play an hour of tennis starting at 6 a.m., leaving just enough time for a quick shower before ar has allowed Gohn to spend even more time playing tennis at the courts up by his house in Poolesville. Now, he plays whenever he has a spare moment, he said.

“Playing early in the morning means I’m it in then,” Gohn said.

Gohn’s 6-year-old son has recently joined Gohn on the courts. He watches his dad play, and the two often spend time hitting together. Gohn’s son has also challenged himself to memorize the Association of Tennis Professionals’ top 100 players in order.

“It’s been a lot of fun to watch him pick up the interest and enjoy playing,” Gohn said. “It’s something we can hopefully continue to bond over as he gets older.”

Gohn plans to continue playing tennis for as long as he possibly can and hopes his son will follow suit.

“People always get to the end of their life and wish they took better care of themselves,” Gohn said. “Tennis is a great way to stay active because it is so low impact.”

When it comes to his sport, history teacher and girls varsity basketball coach Peter Kenah has the same mindset as Gohn: he has every intention to keep doing what he loves. For the past two years, Kenah, along with other Whitman teachers, has played basketball in the school gym every Tuesday and Thursday morning from 6 to 7 a.m.

“It’s something I really looked forward to every morning,” Kenah said. “It gave us teachers a way to be competitive by keeping score and talking trash that we wouldn’t always have otherwise.”

Kenah and fellow history teacher Gregory Herbert started the tradition. They had been playing each other one-on-one but decided they wanted to make it a bigger, more organized event. The idea gained more momentum after the two emailed other teachers, and soon enough, ten or twelve players would show up in the gym before school to play basketball.

Basketball was the perfect sport to play because it didn’t require the teachers to bring much equipment, Kenah said.

“The beauty about basketball is that all you need are some hoops and a ball,” he said.

Before they had to stop because of the coronavirus, these weekly games served as a way for teachers to get to know each other better, Kenah said.

“It was really nice to see teachers you didn’t know that well at the basketball games, and then again in the hallways later that day where you could say ‘Hi,’ or mention the morning,” he said. “It was just nice to share stories with each other.”

Along with new friendships with his coworkers, Kenah found that basketball has pro ly and mentally. It has given him a way to be active two mornings a week, he said, and has given him a “social club,” or a way to get to talk to more teachers, as well as students who would sometimes join Kenah and the rest of the teachers for morning games.

“Everything is all about relationships and community building,” Kenah said. “This is a great way to continue to grow my community as well as strengthen and form relationships.”

TOP: Math teacher Bonnie Butler stands outside her house after the 2020 virtual Marine Corps Marathon. After her mileage tracking device died, Butler nished the marathon and then ran an extra three miles to ensure that she completed the full 26.2. photo courtesy BONNIE BUTLER. BOTTOM: Science teacher Jasen Gohn smiles after a Whitman boys varsity tennis team win. Coaching is the main way Gohn continues to surround himself with tennis. photo courtesy JASEN GOHN.