Can a Vegetarian Medal in the Marathon?
By Joe Nuss
I’m supposed to be talking with 24-year-old Caitlin Chrisman about running. We’re supposed to be talking about her recent marathon at Twin Cities where she qualified for the Olympic Time Trials (she bested the B Standard of 2:46 with a 2:41:53) but, my conversation with the Bank of America Change Manager keeps drifting towards food. She keeps bringing up pumpkins. Pumpkin cornbread. Pumpkin pancakes. The Trader Joe’s pumpkin pancake mix that she and her circle of running friends in the Charlotte Running Club, a group she co-founded with Jay Holder and Aaron Linz, are anxiously awaiting. She doesn’t know I love pumpkins: carving them, eating them, cooking the seeds. She doesn’t know that I make pumpkin pie cheesecake or chili-spice roasted pumpkin seeds. She says she’s going to bring some vegan Tiramisu cupcakes to the photo shoot – my treat for being so awesome, she says.
Caitlin is an optimist.
You’d have to be an optimist to think of vegan cupcakes as a treat, I think. I love raw and crisp vegetables but, I am not a fan of ‘impostor’ foods like veggie burgers, Tofurkey and soon vegan cupcakes – likely one of those foods that look great in photos (like soy milk alfredo) but pander to the eyes more so than the taste buds. The shoot runs long and I don’t get to taste the vegan Tiramisu cupcake until later that night. After the first bite, I am forced to reconsider my feelings about impostor foods. Damn, it’s a good cupcake! Even a day old, the icing is still creamy and the cake still moist – saturated with espresso and Kahlua.
Later, I’m surprised to have used the word ‘decadent’ in my description of a vegan cupcake. The more I talk about it, the more my words drip with positivity like the way Caitlin’s did when she first described it to me. While she hesitates to call herself vegan, she’s much more so than a vegetarian and has been all her life. Both her parents are vegetarians who farmed much of their own food in Illinois where she was raised as a vegetarian.
Caitlin believes much of her strength comes from the solid nutrition of a sound vegetarian diet despite the words of a college recruiter who said she couldn’t compete at the collegiate level on a vegetarian diet. Citing ‘super-foods’ like spinach, almonds and sweet potatoes, as well as refraining from unhealthy vegetarian foods like processed cheese, Caitlin believes her diet provides all the protein she needs. One look at the size of her powerful-looking legs confirms it – a vegetarian diet is certainly not an impediment for her to build muscle!
However, it’s not just diet and training that has helped to contribute to her success, it’s people. When you consider that optimistic people tend to lead healthier lives and have wide social networks, it’s no surprise that Caitlin runs with a group of friends on a regular basis. But, after finishing college, moving to Charlotte and starting work at Bank of America, Caitlin found herself taking a competitive break from running for lack of training partners. So, she and Aaron, whom she met via a craigslist ad looking for running partners, formed the Charlotte Running Club.
Designed to bring the Charlotte running community together under one umbrella through group runs and social events, Caitlin and her friend used their own positive passion for running – rather than speed – as the requirement for joining. According to Caitlin, the key is passion. “If you have it, you should be running with us,” she says. “Speed is not a factor. Ten-minute milers can easily be more passionate than a six-minute miler.”
Even more specifically, Caitlin attributes much of her success at Twin Cities to the group of women she ran with.
“My original goal was 2:45:30 and not die,” says Caitlin.
But, that was for the flatter Chicago Marathon. When a friend’s wedding conflicted, it was a no-brainer for Caitlin to switch her marathons, despite a less friendly course and a bid at qualifying for the Olympic Time Trials on the line.
Yet, when the race started at Twin Cities, Caitlin admittedly started too fast.
“The fun went off and I used my elbows to ensure I wasn’t tripped. After about 400 meters, I heard Mike Beigay (a member of the Charlotte Running Club) come up and he attached himself to Bill (also a member of CRC) who was in front of me. I had an urge to go with Bill and speed up a bit, but Ruth Perkins, a true marathon veteran from Seattle, called to me that we were too fast and to fall back with her. Bless her soul! She saved my marathon only 400 meters into it!”
Eventually, the two became what Caitlin describes as the captain and co-captain of a pack of 4-5 women maneuvering through a sea of marathoners.
“Over the course of the next 20 miles, I shared in an unforgettable and unique experience,” says Caitlin. “Five goals of making an Olympic Trials Qualifier became one goal; our camaraderie propelled us forward, to eventually pass over eight women together as a group and to all gain the Olympic Trials Qualifying B Standard. By encouraging each other, we had so much fun and made the marathon almost feel effortless for the first 18 miles.”
So, with the help of the race day running group, Caitlin finished nearly four minutes ahead of her goal.
“My advice to everyone is to make friends and to run as tightly together as possible to work together and you’ll reap the rewards in the final 10K.”
Caitlin knows, however, that actually qualifying for the Olympics at the Olympic time Trials in Houston in January 2012 will require a much faster time than 2:41. And, actually medalling in the marathon, especially as a vegetarian, is something that hasn’t often been done, if ever.
“I just want to soak up the experience of being there,” says Caitlin. “I would love to have qualified for the A standard (2:39) and have all my travel expenses paid but, with a great job at Bank of America, I can view them as my sponsor. I’m really fortunate to have the best of both worlds.”
