TV Program Description
Original PBS Broadcast Date: October 30, 2007
How do you run 26.2 miles if you have trouble making it around the
block? With good coaching, discipline, and lots of group support, as NOVA
shows when it follows 13 generally sedentary people through a training regimen
designed to prepare them for an ultimate test of stamina and endurance. Created
in cooperation with the Boston Athletic Association®, which granted NOVA
unprecedented access to the 111th Boston Marathon®, and Tufts
University, "Marathon Challenge" takes viewers on a unique
adventure inside the human body, tracking the physiological changes that
exercise can bring about.
Former Olympian and three-time Boston Marathon winner Uta Pippig
offers advice and inspiration to NOVA's runners throughout their
training. And veteran Tufts University coach Donald Megerle guides them
week-by-week through an onslaught of physical and psychological challenges.
NOVA's runners range in age from 22 to 60, and they come to the endeavor
with a wide range of medical histories and backgrounds. They share one thing in
common: none has ever run a marathon before.
Team NOVA includes Betsey, a hospital administrator who became
substantially overweight while recovering from surgery; Jonathan, a
hard-charging CEO and father of five whose marriage is breaking apart; Sama, a
reformed smoker mourning the recent death of her mother to a hit-and-run
driver; Larry, a social worker and 14-year survivor of a serious heart attack;
Xenia, a woman turning 40 and struggling with being an "aging sedentary
physician"; and Steve, a Harley-riding former NFL linebacker who sees the
marathon as a novel challenge for someone used to running only a few yards
before tackling an opponent. (To meet the whole group, see Team NOVA.)
Together with their teammates, they undergo a battery of physiological
tests conducted by Tufts scientists to gauge baseline levels for weight,
maximal oxygen uptake, and other health and fitness factors. These same tests
are performed again at the completion of the training to chart each
runner's response to increased activity (see Fit to Go the Distance).
And increase it does, albeit slowly and
under the watchful eyes of Megerle, Pippig, and other exercise specialists, who
shepherd the novices from relaxed workouts to demanding long-distance runs (see
The Training Calendar). Injuries take a toll, but the group meets faithfully
every Sunday for nine months to prepare for the big race. Physical conditioning
is only part of the process; equally important is the psychological support
that team members get from their coaches and from one another. "We have a
lot of fun. It's almost like a love fest," says Pippig.
As marathon day approaches, the forecast
calls for pelting rain, gale-force winds, and the possibility of
snow—conditions that daunt even experienced marathon runners. On the day
itself, April 16, 2007, those who have made it through training arrive at the
race's starting point in Hopkinton, Massachusetts sheathed in ponchos,
with dry shoes in plastic bags. Then, at 10:30 a.m., the starting gun fires,
and they join 20,000 other runners for the epic race to Boston—a journey
that few on Team NOVA ever dreamed possible (see Marathon Diaries).
Program Transcript
Program Credits
