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A running start
Turning over new leaves in the No Boundaries 5K Training Program
By Katie Brauns / The Bulletin
Published: May 26. 2009 4:00AM PST| order photo
No Boundaries 5K Training Program participants jog en route to completing three miles Saturday morning in Bend. The novice running group has been increasing its mileage each week for eight weeks in order to learn good running habits and train for the Heaven Can Wait 5K to be held next month in Bend.
Melissa Jansson / The Bulletin
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Before Karen Brockway was diagnosed with breast cancer, running was out of the question. During cancer treatment, fighting the disease was her one and only focus. And now, two years after beating cancer, running is becoming a way of life.
“I’ve never been real healthy,” says Brockway, 47, of Bend. “So after the cancer and treatments and everything, I’m just trying to be better. … I’m really inspired. The program has been pretty amazing.”
Brockway is one of 60 participants currently involved with the No Boundaries 5K Training Program, presented by Fleet Feet Sports Bend. The program is designed to motivate folks to run.
It allows participants a window for success.
“The program is definitely something anyone can do,” says Brockway as she jogs along under the bright Central Oregon sun. “The hardest thing is signing up, and getting up and going that first day.”
“Out of all the running programs I have ever been a part of, this is totally the most satisfying to me,” says Rod Bien, owner of Fleet Feet Sports Bend and lead coach of No Boundaries. “It really is.”
No Boundaries is a national training program sponsored by New Balance. The goal of the Bend-based group is to prepare participants to compete in the Heaven Can Wait 5K running race that is set for Sunday, June 7, starting in Drake Park. The annual race serves as a fundraiser for the Sara Fisher Breast Cancer Project, a breast health education and outreach partnership created by the St. Charles Regional Cancer Care Program.
With the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) race less than two weeks away, No Boundaries group members say they are seeing results.
“I was never a runner,” notes Laci Fisher, a 31-year-old teacher at High Lakes Elementary School in Bend. “I e-mailed Rod and I said, ‘I’m overweight, I can’t run, I don’t know how to run and I despise it pretty much. And I just need a change in my routine to try and lose some weight.’”
Now, nearing the end of the program, Fisher has lost 8 pounds and she is at the front of the running pack.
On the first day of the local No Boundaries program, eight weeks ago, participants completed one mile — alternating with one minute of running and one minute of walking until they covered a full mile. Now, their training regimen is up to four minutes of running to every one minute of walking. And their goal distance is up to three miles — the approximate distance of the Heaven Can Wait event.
“When we started all this, I couldn’t even run a minute and I walked the majority of the first training,” Brockway explains. “So now the fact that I can actually run is pretty scary. The really strange thing for me is that I enjoy running. Never did I think I would enjoy it.”
Since March 28, Bien has seen transformations.
“During our first session, we had people who didn’t know what to do with their arms, or how hard they should be breathing, or if they should be drinking during the run — just the basics,” Bien recalls. “You realize that just by giving people the basics you really open up a whole other door where they are like, ‘Running isn’t horrible.’ Now people are like, ‘I like it.’
“It’s not overnight, but they get there. One thing I have them do is look back and see how far they have come.”
Participants say that not only are they receiving instruction and encouragement, and advice on hydration, nutrition and stretching, but they are handed accountability. The primary incentive for participants to attend the Saturday runs is that others in the program expect them to be there.
“I wanted to get back into running,” says Bend’s Ann Marie Glover, a No Boundaries participant who is in her 40s, as she jogs along a shady sidewalk near Bend’s Drake Park. “After kids and a full-time job, it kicked my butt to get back into it again. I don’t think I would have had the motivation otherwise.”
Six coaches, including Bien, lead the Saturday morning runs. The No Boundaries runners are divided into three groups by skill and goals. Some participants want to work toward running a full three miles, while others are focused on walking the distance.
The coaches are there for support, but also to share their passion for running.
“The No. 1 goal is to get people excited about running,” says No Boundaries coach Tarra Ha. “Running not only keeps you healthy — and for people who have experienced breast cancer, that’s important — but it’s an activity that you can love and enjoy.”
Bien says he choose the Heaven Can Wait 5K as the goal race because it has meaning for him and many others.
The June race annually draws thousands of runners and walkers who wish to support breast cancer education and research. Many of the participants themselves are breast cancer patients or survivors.
“At the beginning of Heaven Can Wait it’s pretty emotional because the survivors are all standing and everyone else goes down on one knee,” says Brockway, as she chokes back tears. “And it’s just pretty emotional to know that there’s other people out there with you and if they can do it, you can do it. Breast cancer is a sisterhood. … Knowing that if I can help somebody else go through it, then it has all been worth it. Heaven Can Wait is a pretty powerful walk.”
Katie Brauns can be reached at 541-383-0393 or at kbrauns@bendbulletin.com.
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