In classic move, BC students get up early and run half-marathon for Campus School

“I chose to run the half marathon because I felt like I needed to do something productive this semester and I wanted to give my parents a reason to love me again and invite me back to Thanksgiving dinner,” says communication major Jack Trimble, panting heavily.

He adds:  “They didn’t show up to the half marathon.”

We’re standing at the end point of the Campus School team, surrounded by a mass of sweating humanity.

Junior Emma Sullivan says the experience of running was “fulfilling” and the atmosphere “unifying.”

Only at BC could running 13 miles illicit such wholesome responses.

This Sunday, over 50 BC Students ran 13.1 miles on The Campus School team, raising about $25,000.

The students participated in the Newton Chilly Half Marathon, which started and finished at Newton South High School. Organized as a supplementary fundraiser to the annual Marathon Bandit run in the spring, it was many students’ first time running a half-marathon.

Junior Emma Sullivan was among the students who had never run a half-marathon before. The Applied Psych major said: “I chose to run this half marathon to support the Campus School.”

“It is a really good cause and it was rewarding to know that I could help others in need.”

Junior Meghan McCarthy had also never run such a long race before. She said: “I never thought I would be able to do one in my whole life.

“I hope to run another one in the future, but I would definitely train more and probably pick a course with less hills!”

For organizer Josie Fair, however, this was not her first half-marathon. In fact, junior Josie ran the 2015 Bandit Marathon to benefit the Campus School last year.

The marathon committee is historically the biggest fundraising group for The Campus School.

Josie said: “After running the Bandit Marathon with only 17 others, I felt that we could get a better number of people if the mileage was not as daunting.

“The number of runners had declined tremendously since the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013 when the BAA cracked down on the number of runners – especially bandit runners.

“After the bombings, when we were no longer able to run on the actual day, the fundraising took a hard hit.

“Last year, the 18 runners for the bandit marathon raised only $13,000.”

The year following the bombing, over 100 Boston College students began actively training for the marathon in the fall, as many had in the years past. However, for security measures, it was decided that Boston College students were not allowed to participate in the marathon without qualifying or running on a sponsored team.

For this reason, the Campus School decided to hold their first Bandit marathon in 2014. The Bandit run followed the same route as the Boston marathon but was held the week prior to the actual marathon date. The Campus School had over 100 runners participate in the first Bandit run.

As Josie noted, the number of Bandit runners dropped drastically last year. Students who were determined to run the Boston Marathon committed to a sponsored team so that they could run the actual race on Marathon Monday.

A half-marathon run for The Campus School was the solution to their problem. The idea came from Josie, who said: “I believe that the short race appealed to more runners, and consequently we were able to reach a higher fundraising goal.”

Fundraising, however, was one of the greatest challenges of organizing the half-marathon. Josie said: “Coordinating with the school and using GoFundMe provided many challenges for not just the committee and board but also the runners.

“Many times the links did not work, and also GoFundMe takes a percentage of what was raised.”

In addition to Josie, Katie Beam also coordinated the run. Katie ran a full marathon for the Campus School in 2014. She ran in Providence, but all of her fundraising still went toward the Campus School.

While she admits that it was challenging, being recognized for her accomplishment was so incredibly rewarding and worthwhile. There were spectators at the run who saw her at the start and noticed her BC Campus School T-shirt.

After the race, they found her and congratulated her on her finish. Katie learned that the young couple were BC alumni and they were so happy to see that students were still running for the Campus School. It was a moment such as this that made the challenge of a running a marathon worthwhile.

Students who ran the half-marathon had a fundraising goal of $225 each, with an incentive to raise $300 in order to get a free T-shirt. Running on a Boston Athletic Association (BAA) team sometimes requires runners to raise $5,000, which is a lofty goal for college students.

In comparison, the fundraising goal for the Campus School run is much more realistic. This money goes toward things such as the Campus School semi-formal, holiday parties and other events, and classroom supplies. In addition, it provides a bus that takes runners from BC to the start of the race.

Each runner was assigned a team captain, a Campus School student, for whom they were running for. Many team captains and their families watched and cheered on runners at the BC water stop at mile eight, along with many other BC students who woke up early on a Sunday morning to cheer on their friends.

Katie said: “Everyone is willing to try to do the not most enjoyable thing is so meaningful.”

About the experience, Josie added: “I think the most rewarding part was seeing everyone’s faces at the end of the race – the relief and the satisfaction of finishing, knowing who they were running for.

“After raising money, and finishing the race, I was able to see the satisfaction and gratification of finishing.

“Seeing my friends who never believed they could run 13.1 or seeing others surpass their goal time for such an amazing cause was definitely the most rewarding part of the experience!”

Overall, the Newton Chilly Half was an overwhelming success. The Campus School Marathon Committee plans on doing more organized runs such as this one next semester.

As one Campus School parent put it, “To run a marathon is an accomplishment, to run for someone else is a gift.”