Jim Thomas had a lot to think about as he lay in a hospital bed in March, recovering from quintuple bypass heart surgery.
The one thing the 69-year-old Akron man was not thinking about was training for the Akron Marathon Race Series.
And yet five weeks later, that’s exactly what he was doing.
On April Fools’ Day, Thomas accepted an Akron Beacon Journal invitation to join Blue Line Beginners, a summerlong adventure that challenges area residents to leave their couches and desks and tackle the June, August and September race series together.
More than 90 folks turned out for that inaugural 1.3 mile stroll through Firestone Metro Park, led by Akron Marathon staffers eager to show that their races aren’t just for lifelong athletes.
Beacon Journal photographer Karen Schiely and I — both non-runners with no experience in an organized race — embedded ourselves with the group, eager to share whatever aches, pains and ultimate victories awaited us all.
What a difference 10 weeks have made.
Our beginning runners are now logging 5 to 7 miles on our weekly Saturday group outings at local parks around the county.
We have brisk walkers moving at a clip that will allow them to cover the 13.1 miles of the Akron Half Marathon in the August or September races.
Half of our number have learned an alternating walk/run technique that can be used on everything from June’s 8K race to September’s marathon relay.
Of the 176 people who originally signed up, about 140 have turned in reports from the field or have joined the 50 to 70 people who show up for the Saturday workouts and guest speakers.
And today, the Akron Marathon staff and event co-founder Jeannine Marks will lead the beginners on a dress rehearsal of the actual 8K course through downtown Akron and University Park.
Although diverse in age and fitness, we’ve found it easy to inspire and motivate each other without holding anyone back.
During a recent group outing at Green’s Boettler Park, 29-year-old Cortney Benjamin — a Fargo, N.D., transplant who recently took a job at the University of Akron — ran 6.7 miles while exchanging words of encouragement with septuagenarians whose goals are to walk the 1-mile event in June.
Three weeks to go
With just three weeks to go to our first race, I asked Blue Line Beginners to share their progress.
“I am surprised at how far I have come,” said Bob Gill, a semi-retired 58-year-old from Jackson Township.
“I started out with no idea of what to expect,” he said.
And while each week is getting tougher as he adds wear to his new running shoes, he can already put a mile behind him in under 11 minutes.
“This is the first time I’ve attempted anything like this,” he said.
Kris Kienzl, a 52-year-old Goodyear corporate event planner from Copley Township, said she was skeptical that she would find the time to train. But being part of a group and journaling her adventure for the company newsletter “is keeping me accountable.”
“It’s really cool to look back just a few weeks and see how much I’ve improved. ... When I started, it was tough to run 2 miles without stopping. Today, I’m easily running 5 miles on Saturdays and usually about 4 miles on my other training days.”
“The whole mind-over-matter thing is pretty interesting to me. Once I convinced myself I could do this, it’s amazing how much easier running has become,” she said.
Many Blue Line Beginners joined as a package deal. Fitness friends from a YMCA. Four sisters. Three generations of a Fairlawn family.
There are also several married couples, like Jeff and Lisa Balough of Copley Township.
Jeff Balough, 57, an accountant for Sherwin-Williams Co., said Blue Line Beginners created a drive in him that he didn’t even know existed.
He went to that first walk at Firestone Metro Park thinking “this is what I have been looking for.” He later fine-tuned his goal after hearing from a guest speaker whose specialty is walking the half marathon.
“It kind of makes me nervous thinking about how long it is — 13.1 miles,” he said. But after reaching 5 miles on his training plan, his confidence grew into, “Wow, we can do this!”
New experience
That “we” is an important motivation for him, he said.
He often looks at the Blue Line Beginners silicone wristband that members are wearing so they can spot each other on trails, in parks and at fitness centers, and is comforted by the idea of sharing this new experience with so many others.
Since the call for Blue Line Beginners was published on April 1, Yu-Ling Yeh said she texted her sons about her intent to join with the warning, “It’s no April Fools’ joke!”
Her sons believed her. On Mother’s Day, one of them gave her an iTunes gift card so she could download music for her increasingly long workouts, which have gone from an “aching” 2 miles to a comfortable 6 miles.
Right on track
Yeh, a 50-something child educator from Stow, also co-organized a small group of downtown Akron lunch walkers. It helps keep her on track during the week when it might otherwise be too easy to brush off training.
“I am already counting the medals that I wanted to collect,” she said. The magic number is four: One for each of the three races, and a fourth for completing the entire Akron Marathon Race Series.
Jim Thomas wants that bling, too.
With each day putting more distance between him and that life-changing heart surgery, Thomas is focused on the future.
He’s registered for the 8K in June, and his daughters, Janet Wood and Julie Collins, have signed up to run the event in support of their dad.
His ultimate goal is to walk the half marathon in September.
It will be a celebration of life itself.
“I had a quintuple bypass and now I’m doing the Akron Marathon Race Series,” Thomas said. “Sometimes, I just can’t believe it.”
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/paulaschleis.