Community Corner

Bridgewater Teacher Using Half Marathon as 'Therapy'

She decided to run one after dealing with devastation from Sandy.

She was looking for something to take her mind off tragedy after dealing with damage from Superstorm Sandy in both her Bridgewater home and her Ortley Beach house—so Margaret Blood, a teacher at Hillside Intermediate School, decided she wanted to run a half marathon.

“I decided to run this half marathon more as therapy than anything else,” she said.

Blood said times were difficult after the storm as she and her family tried to get a handle on the damage.

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“Trying to fix this house and having very little information about the beach was really hard,” she said. “We had limited access to the beach and it was difficult to begin the clean-up.”

“I was feeling like things were out of control and I needed to do something that would force me to stop and think rather than just react,” she added. “I realized that when I run, I really am able to take time to think about things and problems are easier solved.”

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But, Blood said, she wanted to have a goal.

“I would not be able to just run for the sake of running, so I needed a goal,” she said.

So Blood decided she would participate in the 2013 More/FITNESS Women’s Half Marathon, the largest women’s only half-marathon event in the country. The event brings together thousands of runners from around the world.

This year is the 10th anniversary of the event, and it will be held April 14 in Central Park.

“I chose the More/FITNESS half marathon for several reasons, first of all it is an all women’s marathon, so they are more forgiving and much more encouraging,” Blood said. “I grew up in New York and love Central Park, so this is perfect.”

In addition, Blood said, it is pretty flat, so the run would not be too terrible.

Blood has actually done three half marathons in the past, and her goal is to break the two-hour mark, which she said she has not done before.

“That is the goal I am working toward,” she said.

When she decided to do the half marathon, Blood said, she sat her family down and explained to her husband and four children that she would need help to make it work.

“I have run three half marathons before, so I knew what was going to be involved in training, and a spring marathon is really hard because if the weather is bad then you need to run on a treadmill, which is a nightmare in my opinion,” she said. “I downloaded a training schedule and have it posted in my house.”

“I now have five ‘trainers’ reminding me how many miles I need to complete each day,” she added.


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