Run Foster Run

The Foster team getting ready to head to the starting line

It was a sunny cold day at the end of fall quarter in December.  I was overwhelmed classes and felt that I had no time to do anything but school.  I decided that I needed a goal.  A big goal.  I thought about something really hard for me, but something that I could accomplish if I put my mind to it. Something that involved a personal victory as opposed to a standard distribution curve in a class.  So it dawned on me – it was running.  So I threw a shout out to my MBA colleagues – “Does anyone want to train for the half marathon in Vancouver in May with me?”

The response I got was overwhelming.  Two other classmates quickly became co-leaders with me on this effort.  We set up a Facebook group (Run Foster Run) and started putting together weekly runs.  Our first run was the week before finals around Greenlake.  It was 20 degrees outside and slippery. From that Saturday and until first weekend of May, Run Foster Run had 13 organized runs.  We took a picture every week and recorded the number of miles we ran to demonstrate to ourselves and our classmates our progress.  We ran all over Seattle – from classical runs like Greenlake and Lake Union to Burke Gilman trail runs, to Discover Park, Arboretum and many others.  Our turnout was always fabulous – people came rain or shine.  In the process, we got to know significant others, second years, evening students and each other.

To make the team more official, we decided to print up shirts for the big race.  Given that we had a decent group signed up to go to Vancouver, we were also able to get support from the Program Office, the MBAA, and Part II which the club is now a part of, to help pay for the shirts.  It was totally worth it, too.  They were quite visible throughout the whole race with their Husky purple and Foster logos. We wore the shirts proudly and I’m happy to report we all beat our goal times.

As for me, I finished my first ever 13.1 mile race and felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment considering the fact that in December, I could not run 2 continuous miles.

• Helen Seliverstov (Class of 2011)