No running for the hills
where he has raced from 2014 through 2017.
“Ever since I’ve gotten into handcycling, I’ve never really had a big problem doing hills,” said Newman, who sustained a lower spinal cord injury as a paramedic in an ambulance accident after retiring from the service. “So since I don’t get a chance to train for them, I don’t really worry about them. It seems to work OKfor me. I hold my own on hills.”
Newman said he averages 70-80 miles per weekwith one day off. But he said he does not get into technology to test his resting heart rate or get into any specialized upper-body training “other than 16-ounce beers. If you can lift enough of them, it helps out.”
“I do it because I enjoy it,” he said. “It gets meout of the house, and it gets me out in the fresh air, and I feel good, and I think it’s good for me.”
Denise Knickman has competed in 30 marathons, and Saturday will mark her 10th
Baltimore event. But it will be her first marathon since 2016 because of an assortThe Baltimore Marathon will be Will ment of injuries, including Achilles tendiniWright’s first road marathon of his career. tis, which explains the Baltimore physical But the Locust Point resident and director therapist’s anxiety about the race. of corporate accounts for an Austrian
“I really hope to run around 3:07,” she manufacturer has competed in the Spartan said. “I feel pretty nervous. I don’t really Ultra World Championships in Iceland in know how I’m going to do because I haven’t 2014, more than 50 obstacle races, and six been able to train as much running-wise as I trail ultra-marathons, which are races have in the past. I just sort of hope that the longer than the usual 26.2 miles. cross training helps me to the same level.” “I’ve found that I’ve just got a propensity
Knickman, 51, has been cautious about to suffer a lot longer than most people do,” her training. She has alternated 90 minutes Wright, 27, quipped. “For me, I’m having of running on Tuesdays and Thursdays fun.” with regimens of cycling and swimming Wright said he began training for the Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. She Baltimore Marathon over the summer. He reserves 3-hour runs for the weekend. raced in the Endless Summer Six-Hour
“I think it’s helped me to be able to get Run organized by the Annapolis Striders back to running and racing,” she said of the on July 27 to prepare himself for running cross training. “I had to take a pretty long in the heat and took part in a 12-hour time off. So I think it’s helping me to keep my Adventure Trail Run on Sept. 21 that running going by running every other day.” entailed 50 miles.
Knickman said she will likely play U2’s At his peak, Wright averaged 75 miles per “Beautiful Day” in her car while driving to week, but has tapered his mileage to about the starting line and wear her traditional 40. He acknowledged that he will rouse red hair ties to celebrate her graduation himself from bed before sunrise to squeeze from the University of Maryland. in a run before a hectic work day.
“I guess somewhere along the line, I “I’m planning it around my meeting must’ve thought I did better if I had a red schedule and my flight schedule and all of hair tie in,” she said with a laugh. “So I kind those things,” he said. “I’m also a very of stuck with that position.” early-morning person. I don’t like running at night. I will if I have to, but oftentimes, it’s just a matter of if I want to get in 20 miles today, I’ve got to get up at 4 a.m.”
The journeys to the Baltimore Marathon may vary, but the post-race celebrations will allow the participants to experience similar emotions.
“Everyone congratulates each other,” Knickman said. “It’s just a big party at that point.”
Bruce Newman has competed in more than 100 marathons and is Baltimore’s reigning men’s champion for the wheelchair crank division. But in his town of Stella, N.C., the 73-year-old former Army member has no hills to train on to prepare for the elevation changes in Baltimore,
‘A propensity to suffer’