Two teachers from Boston Middle School (BMS) in La Porte, Indiana completed the Chicago Marathon on Sunday October 7. Renee Howes, a 6th grade reading teacher and Rebekah Schmidt, a 6th grade special education teacher both participated in and finished all 26.2 miles of the race.
Howes trained with her husband for eighteen weeks by running on the country roads throughout La Porte. All in all she ran 450 miles (not including the actual race). This was her second time running the Chicago Marathon, and she finished with a time of 04:04:00.
“I felt like my body was in condition for it,” Howes said. "It felt good to try hard and train for it. I ran even when the weather was crummy or if I didn’t feel like it that day.”
How did it feel to actually run and finish the race?
“It’s indescribable, the feeling of accomplishment,” Howes exclaimed. “It’s emotional, too. You see cancer survivors, people doing charities, people from all over the world running the race. It’s inspirational.”
Rebekah Schmidt trained for eighteen weeks as well, but she ran with the high school cross country team when she wanted company. This was her eighth marathon and her finishing time was 03:51:00. The fastest time yet for Schmidt! How was everything during the race?
“Great! I had a bad start and had to work hard to catch up to where I wanted to be. When I crossed the finish line I felt so happy and proud,” Schmidt stated happily. “It felt great to know that I ran my fastest time in the 10 years that I've been running marathons.”
Are there any plans for future marathon participation?
“Yes, definitely going to run Chicago next year. I'm thinking of doing a marathon this Spring to see if I can run a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon,” Schmidt stated.
These women are machines. Plain and simple. It’s pretty neat and unique that two teachers from the same school run the same race at the same time!
To find out more about the Faculty at Boston Middle School, click here!