On Saturday morning, Meredith Faulkner got to check one more item off her runner’s bucket list: she ran across the finish line at Hayward Field.
The 130th marathon runner to come across, Faulkner finished her eighth marathon and her first in Eugene in 3 hours, 8 minutes, 42 seconds.
“The setting in such a historically strong running community that actually gets to call itself ‘Track Town USA’ made it a bucket list race for me,” said Faulkner.
Having run seven other marathons, including such iconic races as Boston in 2014, New York in 2013, and Philadelphia in 2004, Faulkner said the 2015 Eugene Marathon made the list of her top three.
“To be able to cross the starting line on the bridge listening to Sinatra” in New York and “then coming into Hayward is an equivalent runner’s moment,” said Faulkner.
Beginning with running cross country and track in high school, Faulkner found a life-long sport. She got her start running marathons her first year after college. However, medical school and then residency got in the way for a few years. Now, Faulkner generally tries to run about two marathons per year, one in the spring and one in the fall.
While she enjoys racing, competition isn’t her focus, because she looks at it as a life-long sport. “It’s just a very therapeutic thing to get out there and run,” said Faulkner. And while finding the time to train as a primary care doctor in Charlotte, North Carolina can be challenging, Faulkner has met friends through the sport as she has been able to travel to various races.
Faulkner met fellow North Carolinan Steve Ahrens a few years ago here in Oregon at the Hood to Coast Relay race and they sometimes train together when they can fit it in between their schedules. “Sessions are filled with hard work and sweat, but also filled with compassion and care,” said Ahrens. “It is like getting two for the price of one. Well needed socialization with a person you can relate to and a good work-out, all rolled into a session.”
The training and some shorter races Faulkner did leading up to the marathon paid off in satisfaction with her marathon time. With a slightly cloudy day and temperatures in the low 60s just right for running a marathon, Faulkner enjoyed getting to run the streets of Eugene with a few thousand other runners. And while she made the trip on her own, Faulkner still enjoyed being able to run with people through the whole race.
Faulkner formerly visited Portland but was thrilled to finally be able to explore Eugene. “I had a tremendous weekend I will never forget: from exploring Eugene’s beautiful neighborhood streets in full wildflower bloom to driving out to the coast for some breathtaking scenery to running Pre’s Trail and visiting the Pre memorial. My running heart was full up.”
