Andre Arguimbau, both a cross-country runner and tennis player, ran his first official marathon on March 20. The first-year decided last minute to run the North Carolina High Point Marathon. Despite being on the cross-country team at Guilford, Arguimbau had only run twice since the season ended in November.”I ran a few weeks before the race just to make sure I could still run,” said Arguimbau. “I also took a run sometime in January. Besides that, I did no training.”
Despite Arguimbau’s success, runners are advised not to run a marathon without training. Training for a marathon is said to take multiple months.
There were 302 finishers, including full-marathon, half-marathon, and 5k runners. Arguimbau, co-chairman of the campus Republicans club, finished the 26.2 miles in four hours and 11 minutes.
“I ran the first three miles a little too fast, in about 18 minutes, which ultimately hurt me,” he said.
According to Arguimbau, about eight miles in, runners reached a five-mile stretch of hills. After this stretch, more hills sporadically followed. Fortunately, the run was in a beautiful setting, around lakes and through High Point University.
Arguimbau admits that miles 13 to 17 were tough. The number of miles were beginning to take a toll, making his quads cramp.
Finally, at mile 21, Arguimbau hit a wall.
“My stomach tried to eat me around 21 miles,” Arguimbau said. “I had burned all my carbs and protein and my body was looking for energy. My motivation to keep running came from a bunch of places. A woman about 20 years older than me passed me – that was intense.”
The mile markers along the side of the road were also a motivation, according to Arguimbau. Every time Arguimbau saw one, he said it helped pump him up because he realized he was that much closer. Even though he was used to running five miles and could usually do it easily, Arguimbau said that the last five miles were some of his toughest.
After crossing the finish line, Arguimbau felt relieved, as well as very accomplished.
“Mainly, I was starving,” Arguimbau said. “I downed six oranges before my mom told me there wouldn’t be any left for the other runners.”
Arguimbau is currently running for treasurer of Community Senate, leading campus tours, and serving on the marketing committee.
“Andre is a great teammate, runner, tennis player, and he is running for student senate,” said first-year Ben Nelson, Arguimbau’s tennis teammate. “Basically, he is an all-around great guy.”
The first-year plans to run another marathon in June, either in Maryland or Maine.
“The great thing about a marathon is that it is not a race in the sense that you are racing other people,” Arguimbau explained. “Everyone in the race is really positive and roots everyone else on. Basically, you are running 26 miles, and it sucks, but you are doing it together. It’s an awesome experience.