When two high school friends from Maine, Dave Ketchen and Chad Morang, invited Liz Mulkeen to run with them in the Eugene Marathon in Oregon, she was up for the challenge. The Eugene Marathon is the Pacific Northwest’s largest marathon and takes place each spring on the last Sunday of April.
For the first 20 miles of the race, Mulkeen felt good mentally, but she said the last 6 miles were the hardest. What kept her going was knowing that everyone at the Dinghy, where she bartends, was livestreaming and cheering her on. She also had the support of her best friend of 15 years and bartending co-worker, Rachel Antognioni, and Antognioni’s son Riggs, who flew out to Oregon with her.
Amongst 15,000 other runners, Mulkeen’s finish time was four hours and 16 minutes and she averaged 9:47 per mile. With zero to little training, she was pleased with her results.
“If you put your mind to something, you can achieve it,” she said. “You’re stronger than you think you are.”
By Sarah Rose
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