THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, March 13, 2020 Page 17 ASKS | from page 3 the manager and trainer at TITLE Boxing Club off of Route 1 South in Saugus. Highlights of our interview follow Q: Stephanie, right now it seems like it’s kind of uncertain as to whether you are going to be running in your first Boston Marathon. What do you hear from the Boston Marathon people? A: They’re saying that they are widely and closely monitoring the race and just trying to keep an eye on the coronavirus and at the same time, trying to keep the people of Boston safe. There haven’t been many updates on the Boston Athletic Association, just in terms of that. They’re monitoring it, however, and they do plan to put the needs and safety of the city first. Q: Do you have any thoughts at this point as to whether it’s a “go” or “no go”? A: Of course, I hope it’s a “go.” It has been six months of training and fundraising, tears and injuries that a lot of people don’t see: They just see the finish line. So, nothing would be more important to me than carrying my cousin’s name proudly over that finish line, so I hope with every bit of myself that it’s still a “go.” Q: Then, I guess if it’s cancelled, the best-case scenario would be to have the marathon rescheduled for later in the year. A: You know, it would be wonderful for a postponement date. The unfortunate part to that is people have lives. And people have planned and already put their body through tough, intense training, so a postponement, I think, would be better than just a complete deferment until the next year. Right now, I’m not quite sure how they would make that work. On my team alone, we have a lot of out-of-state runners. They booked Airbnbs just like that, so it will be difficult. Q: How recently did it dawn on you that all of this effort may be down the tubes? When did you first think about that possibility? A: Yesterday [Tuesday, March 10] it really hit me. I work in the public and see people every day. After a very busy class that I had taught yesterday here, one of the members said, “Hey, Steph. What do you think? Do you really think that this is going to happen?” They were canceling the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It was a big hit and kind of knocked the wind out of my sails. Yesterday was really a tough day. It all kind of came to a head. ROWS OF PUNCHING BAGS: Stephanie Jandrys’s daytime job is being manager and trainer of TITLE Boxing Club off of Route 1 South in Saugus. (Saugus Advocate Photo by Mark E. Vogler) Q: So, the cancellation of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Boston – that kind of put some focus on it? A: That and what happened at Harvard University and news of the potential closing of Boston Public Schools. That along with [Mayor] Marty Walsh and the governor putting us essentially in a state of emergency, so that was it, yesterday. Q: How many hours do you calculate that you have put into this thing already? A: I always like to tell people that I’m not a runner. And I don’t think a lot of people understand what I mean by that. I am an athlete during my entire life. There are people who get up and they run 10 miles every single day because they love it. That’s not necessarily who I am. So, before my training program even started, I had to know that I could keep up with the training program, so I started running for this in October. I started doing training runs, and my official training really started sometime after Thanksgiving. It runs four days a week and another day of cross-training – all of those hours of stress on your body, and it’s just as much mental. Q: Have you run a marathon yet? A: I’ve done two half marathons. I’ve done the Run To Remember in Boston twice. It’s a half marathon that is dedicated to the fallen police officers, firefighters and EMTs. Although my cousin wasn’t one of those – he was a DCR Ranger for the Massachusetts State House for over two decades and that was the closest I could get to sort of remembering him – so I have two half marathons under my belt, so if you put them together, that’s a full marathon. Q: But have you gone the distance in practice? A: So far in our training, we have gone 19 miles. With the coronavirus, it’s pretty upsetting because we have already RSVPed our 22-mile bus ride from Framingham back to Boston. That is two Saturdays from now, so it would really take a mental toll on me to run those 22 miles and fully prepare my body for them, only to cancel it. ASKS | SEE PAGE 18
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