IU junior runs in marathon

CINCINNATI -- For those people who train for a marathon, many just hope to finish the race. IU junior Nathan Dufault was different -- he wanted to finish the race in less than three hours.\nAnd he nearly did.\nSunday, Dufault completed the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon in a time of 3:08:57. He ended the race in 100th place out of the 3,881 men and women who finished the 26.2-mile event, defeating over 97 percent of the runners. Many more competitors never crossed the finish line. \nThis was the fourth running of the Flying Pig Marathon, which has gained national recognition since its inception in 1999.\nThis was his first marathon, but he said he was pleased with his effort.\n"I had never run one before so I didn't have too many goals," Dufault said. "I wanted to break three hours, but the last couple of miles kicked my butt."\nDufault trained for the Flying Pig during the 12 weeks leading up to the race. Six days a week, he trained whenever he found time -- often he would start running late at night. During those weeks he also balanced schoolwork, which he said was stressful at times.\nHis roommate, junior Matt Webster, said because of Dufault's success at the Mini-Marathon and his dedicated training, his finish wasn't surprising.\n"I ran with him once, and it wasn't fun, because he was bored and I was tired," Webster joked. "Other times I would ask where he was going, and he would just take off running."\nThroughout the 12 weeks of training, Dufault's longest trial run was 18 miles. \nSaturday night, he rested at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Cincinnati. At 6:30 a.m. the following morning, the gun sounded.\n"It was really foggy and dark," he said. "For the first 8-10 miles I couldn't see 20 feet ahead of me."\nDufault said the next ten miles were filled with strange occurrences, including people relieving themselves on the side of the road. One man continued to run despite losing control of his bowels during the race. \nFor Dufault, fatigue set in late in the race.\n"Around mile 22, my hamstrings started to tighten, so I really had to pick up my legs and set them down," he said.\nBut he said once the race began he was focused and paid little attention to his surroundings. \nHis mother, Jody Dufault, said he was a hard worker as a high school runner.\n"I was really surprised to see how high he finished with this being his first marathon, because I know he didn't know what to expect," she said. "But Nate's the type of boy that puts his mind to do something and does it 100 percent."\nDufault said he had thought of trying out for the IU cross country team, but enjoys the freedom to run and train at his own pace as opposed to the demands of a college program. Someday he wants to qualify for the prestigious Boston Marathon, though right now he has no immediate running plans.\n"I'll probably take a year off from this kind of running and maybe run some small races," he said. "I am thinking about maybe a triathlon"