Runner finishes half marathon on her own
Courtesy of Roberto M. Esquivel
From left are Chrissy Spaugy, Rhonda Anderson, Becky Chidden Aesoph, Amanda Tolbert, Sheena Berry Donley and Terri Baker.
Courtesy of Roberto M. Esquivel
Becky Chirdon Aesoph set up a water station for her friend Amanda Tolbert at Virginia Avenue in Uniontown during Tolbert’s half-marathon race.
Courtesy of Roberto M. Esquivel
Amanda Tolbert makes her way along Virginia Avenue in Uniontown during her half marathon.
Amanda Tolbert was set to run the Rock N Roll D.C. half marathon last weekend, until it was canceled because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
So the Hopwood woman ran her own half marathon, using Mapquest to create a 13.1-mile course.
An avid half-marathoner, Tolbert, 42, decided to run anyway after she was notified by event organizers in early March that the run through the nation’s capital on March 28 was scrapped.
“I was disappointed. You don’t want to see things in your life postponed or canceled, but that’s how it has to be right now,” said Tolbert, director of logistics for Mylan Pharmaceuticals. “I was in a funk and thought I needed to do this for me. So the day before the race was scheduled, I said, ‘Hey, why not run it anyway?'”
Tolbert usually runs three or four half marathons a year, and had signed up to compete in three this year: the Rock N Roll, Pittsburgh, and Las Vegas races.
She and her husband, Eric, a marathoner who works for SPX in Washington, both had signed up to compete in the Spartan Obstacle Course in Florida.
A member of CrossFit U-Town and WestCo Derby, a roller derby team, Tolbert’s half-marathon training regimen includes a combination of running and CrossFit training.
So, at 8 a.m. last Saturday, Tolbert slipped into a T-shirt she wore for her first Rock N Roll Half Marathon, running shorts, a red tutu, and red, white, and blue knee-high socks, and started running.
“It was a very scenic course,” said Tolbert. “But there were a lot of hills. The D.C. course is flat.”
Tolbert’s friends and family also got involved. They positioned themselves along the route, waving homemade signs and shouting encouragement. One friend even set up a water station at the eight-mile mark.
Among those in the crowd was a friend of Tolbert’s, who is undergoing treatment for stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
For Tolbert, the camaraderie of running is one of the things that draws her to the sport.
“It was so great. Usually at the 10-mile point, I’m done. It’s usually the crowd and the energy that gets me through. It’s the whole experience that makes it fun,” said Tolbert. “It’s my friends that made the day so special.”