Marathon is personal challenge for family
SOMEONE YOU SHOULD KNOW
by LISA A. JOHNSON

Barbara Nichter, left, her niece, Keri Rabideau, center, and Rabideau's mother, Kathy Garland, show off the jackets they recently earned during the Adirondack Marathon.

Walking is a lot more strenuous than it sounds.

This is the lesson three area women learned when they decided to walk the 26.2-mile Adirondack Marathon around Schroon Lake in September.

Kathy Garland of Lancaster and her daughter, Keri Rabideau of Williamsville, were looking for a project that would fit into their schedule and help them keep fit. They found an article in a magazine that focused on teams of women walkers and liked the idea. From there, they looked into different marathons and decided on the Adirondack event because it had a specific category for walkers, and the site was only about five hours away.

"It was just a personal challenge, how fast we can finish a marathon," Garland said.

Garland and Rabideau then asked Garland's sister, Barbara Nichter of Lancaster, to join the group.

The team followed a training schedule Garland found on the Internet. In May, they started walking four miles per day and gradually increased their goal, which eventually became being able to walk a mile in 15 minutes. During the marathon, they averaged 13 minutes and 41 seconds a mile.

Rabideau thought walking would be easier than running, but she was proven wrong.

"It turned out to be a lot harder," she said.

Garland, who had run a marathon in the past, explained why walking is harder.

"It's harder on your body because you have to put more time into it," she said.

The three finished the walking marathon in five hours, 59 minutes and 12 seconds - more than an hour longer than Garland's time during the running marathon, which she estimated in the four-hour range.

The three enjoyed the Adirondack event because the organizers understood the work walkers accomplished and treated them with respect.

"They made you feel every bit as important as runners," Garland said.

All three also stressed that training months in advance was the key to successfully finishing the marathon.

"Training takes a lot of time out of the day, but it was worth it," Nichter said. "We decided it would be a nice family thing to do together."

Garland's other family members include husband, Tom, and son, Bryan Mertzlufft, 28, who is in the Air Force and a member of Team in Training, a group that trains those interested in participating in marathons.

Nichter and her husband, Mark, have a son, Nick, 21.

Rabideau and her husband, David, have two children, Julia, 7, and Aiden, 5.

The women are planning to walk the marathon again next year, but their training will include hills because their prior training didn't account for the Adirondack's rugged terrain.

"The hills were tough, but the scenery was beautiful," Rabideau said.

Garland said the marathon lived up to its slogan: "Probably the most beautiful 26 miles, 385 yards you'll ever run."

Those who participated received finishing medals, but the three women finished first among those who were only walking.

(Story ideas for this feature can be sent to David F. Sherman, managing editor, Amherst Bee, P.O. Box 150, Buffalo, NY 14231-0150, or e-mail dsherman@beenews. com)