On Sunday morning, before most of the city of Eugene was even awake, runners of all ages gathered in front of Hayward Field for the 10th annual Eugene Marathon. The sun was barely up when they arrived, wearing shirts of every neon color imaginable. Puffy clouds from the cold morning air emitted from their mouths as they breathed, stretching out their legs that would soon be pounding the streets of Eugene for 26.2 miles. Among them is 28-year-old Tiffany Lambert, wearing a lime colored tank top, black shorts and white socks that cover her calves.
Lambert has spent the last 10 years in the Air Force. She is currently stationed in Virginia, but she originally hails from Eugene. Lambert finished the marathon in 3 hours 36.46 minutes, but she wasn’t completely satisfied.
“I was shooting to get under 3:30, which I did not get, but I’ll keep going at it,” said Lambert.
Near the checkpoint in front of Autzen Stadium, about halfway through the race, Lambert’s mom, Missi Barrett, wearing a shirt that said “Keep Calm and Bake On” and a red vest that she refused to take off because she told Lambert she would be wearing it, waited with the rest of Lambert’s family. Everyone anxiously checked their phones for any updates. Lambert had told them that she would be passing them at 8:30 a.m.
“She’s normally very accurate,” said Barrett.
Barrett recalls the one time Lambert wasn’t accurate. In December, Lambert ran a marathon in Washington, D.C. It was so cold that the water in the cups that get handed out to the runners was freezing before anyone could drink it. Barrett started getting worried about Lambert when she stopped getting text updates. Sure enough, Lambert had injured herself and didn’t finish the race.
Sunday in Eugene was far from freezing, and Lambert achieved a much better result. She didn’t end up passing her family for another 30 minutes, but she did finish the race. Coming back to her hometown wasn’t her only motivation to run in the marathon; she has also just begun a difficult but not impossible feat: to run 50 marathons in all 50 states.
“I think she’s kind of crazy,” said Barrett. “Who runs 26 freakin’ miles?”
To train for these marathons, Lambert said, she does “lots and lots and lots of running.” This makes Lambert go through about seven pairs of shoes per year.
“In 2015, she ran 2,015 miles,” said Barrett.
Lambert started running long distance in high school while she participated on the school’s track and field team. She was originally a sprinter, but according to Barrett, she was “horrible.” So, Lambert began running longer distances and was more successful.
This was Lambert’s fourth marathon toward her statewide goal, not counting ultra-marathons, which would bring her total up to six. So she still has quite a while to go if she wants to make it to fifty. She has also run in marathons in Philadelphia and New Jersey. In November, Lambert will be running in the New York City Marathon.
“I haven’t planned anything other than that, so we’ll see,” said Lambert.
