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Marathon Men
Photo by Chris Hartlove


From left, Haine, Parlange, Meyer, and Searson

Giving new meaning to the phrase "power lunch," Hopkins professors Marc Parlange (Geography and Environmental Engineering), Tom Haine (Earth and Planetary Sciences), Peter Searson (Materials Science and Engineering), and Gerald Meyer (Chemistry) meet most days to run a 10-mile loop from the Homewood campus to Robert E. Lee Park and back. Last October, they teamed up to win the Baltimore Marathon Corporate Cup relay. They ran the race in two hours and 41 minutes, which was fast enough to beat six other Hopkins teams (including the Snot Docs, Reuland's Racers, and Not Fast, Not Slow) and set the course relay record.

"Because we had trained together, it was very nice to achieve something together as well," says Searson.

The profs started running as a group four years ago, after Parlange overheard Searson and Meyer talking about their personal records. "I was listening to hear their time to find out if they were legit or not," says Parlange.

Thus began the long runs and lively competition that have turned into a close friendship.

Although the four have run plenty of races — they have a combined total of 32 marathons under their belts — the Baltimore Marathon was the first time they ran as a team. "It's good fun, and it's not as hard as running a whole marathon," Haine says with a laugh.

This April, they'll be at it again when they team up for the Boston Marathon. "We've now moved on to take on the Kenyans," says Parlange.

Adds Meyer: "The geriatric Kenyans."
Catherine Pierre

Return to February 2004 Table of Contents

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