Marathon Challenge

Noah Hawes

3-17-16

1st Block

Marathon Challenge

        For many people, the Boston Marathon is an event that they would love to be able to be a part of. The marathon is a pure test of mental and physical strength. Some people that attempt to run in this marathon might not be able to finish just because of how hard it is to go twenty-six miles. Others might be rewarded and get across the finish line while others just sit back in awe watching them. For this challenge, random people were selected who engaged in very little physical activity, if any at all, and the goal is to get these people to be able to finish the twenty-six mile long Boston Marathon.

        The people that were chosen for this experiment all have their own personal issues. Some of them like Mic, Ray, and Jane are there simply because they are getting older and want to show everyone that older people can do these things. Some of the people there are there because they are trying to overcome health problems, like Larry who had a heart attack at age 43, Daniel who has been HIV positive for thirteen years, and Vera who lost about eighty-five pounds. Then there is Betsy who put on about seventy pounds while she was trying to recover from a surgery that she had had. There’s Sama who is grieving over the death of her mother due to a hit and run accident. Some of the team just simply feels out of shape, like Jonathan.

        There are tests that are run on all of these people just to be sure that all of them get off to the right start. One test in particular was the VO2 max test which is used to figure out the maximum rate at which the body can consume oxygen. Sama’s VO2 max was rated fair. Ray got an excellent rating, Carol got a fair rating, Daniel got a good rating, Jane received a poor rating, Larry got a fair rating, Vera received a poor rating, Mic received a good rating, Xenia received a fair rating, Jonathan received a superior rating which means he has the highest VO2 max of the group. Betsy was advised that she should lose her extra seventy pounds before she begins any type of marathon training. Betsy had to receive more testing to see if she could continue the marathon training or if she would have to be disqualified. After further testing, the cardiologist gave Betsy the go ahead to continue her training.