Meserve Masters a Marathon

WAITSBURG - Most 18-year-olds don't celebrate high school graduation by running a marathon -- but then most 18-year-olds aren't E.J. Meserve. On Sunday,June 22, Meserve ran as the youngest runner in the San Juan Island marathon, placing 15th out of 60 competitors. Meserve's longtime coach, Joanna Lanning and her daughter Marci Jo (Lanning) Martinez, went along to offer moral support and challenged themselves by participating in the Three Lakes Sprint Triathalon on Saturday.

"I've wanted to run a marathon since I was a sophomore but Joanna always told me no because it would interfere with cross country training," said Meserve. Following his senior year in cross country - during which he placed 29th at the State Meet - Meserve began scoping out runs. "I looked online for marathons in the state and this was one of the first to come up," he said.

Coaches Joanna Lanning and Ron Huntington helped in formulating the training plan which Meserve began just after the State X-C meet in November, 2013. Meserve credits much of his passion for running to Lanning who has coached him since he was in eighth grade. "I'm really proud of him," said Lanning. "This was a great way to wrap up his cross-country career and a real tribute to all the work he's put in training."

Lanning had planned to attend the race and cheer Meserve on when she discovered that the marathon was just one part of an Island Athletic Events weekend. An Achilles tendon injury prevents Lanning from distance running, but she is an avid swimmer and biker and convinced daughter Marci Jo to join her in competing as a team in the Sprint Triathalon the day prior to the marathon. Lanning swam the half-mile Neva Lake swim, while Martinez biked 12 miles and ran a 5K. Lanning said the dark, murky water was "a bit overwhelming" and while she didn't get her best open-water time, she was glad to have finished the event.

Meserve admits that he was "a little bit nervous" at race time on Sunday morning. "Mile one was hard because I wasn't quite in my groove yet. Around mile two it got easier and I found my groove." Meserve ran with two men - a first-time marathoner and an eight time veteran - for about the first 20 miles. The experienced runner had run the Boston Marathon - a goal of Meserve's - twice, and E.J. took the opportunity to "pick his brain" about the race. A race highlight occurred at about mile 12 when Meserve saw Orca whales swimming just offshore as he ran along the beach. "I considered stopping to get a better look, but decided I'd better not," he said.

"We were running 7 minute, 30 second miles, which would have put my time at 3.5 hours (his personal goal), but around mile 19 I started getting really sore. At mile 24 my legs began hurting so much that I had to stop and walk off and on, which dropped my time some." Meserve lost his running partners but kept going and met up with another marathon veteran around mile 25. The pair jogged in together and Meserve ended the run in 19th place with a time of 3 hours and 50 minutes.

Lanning had intended to ride alongside Meserve during the race but ended up getting misdirected after giving him an hour head start and rode about 30 miles before she caught up with him on mile 24. "She talked with me for a few minutes and asked me if I regretted my decision," said E.J. "This was right at the point that I was hurting the most and I was still able to say that it was the best decision of my life - because it was," said Meserve.

Meserve learned after the race that the hilly course which had at least "seven Hills of Doom" is known as one of the more difficult courses in the area. "I'm not scared of anything now. If I can do that, I can do anything." Meserve said that he can see how running marathons is addictive and is already looking for another race in November. "It's hard to explain, but the feeling of finishing is so, so great that you just want to go back and do another one."