Professor Paul Ellinger

In 1988, Professor Ellinger, head of the department of ACES, ran his personal best marathon time of 2 hours and 26 minutes at the Chicago Marathon, averaging 5 minutes and 34 seconds per mile for the 26.2 mile event — a time that would still put him in the .2% fastest percentile in the country.

That was 22 years ago. While he no longer trains 60-70 miles a week, Ellinger’s love for running has not changed.

“Everyone has to find a stress reliever. For me it is running,” Ellinger said. “It’s one of the reasons why I maintained it through graduate school, to reflect on activities, stress and jobs.

Since the mid-1970s, Ellinger has made the University his home, completing his undergraduate, masters and Ph.D. at the University.

It was towards the end of his undergraduate days that Ellinger started running. Two years after he started the hobby, he completed his first marathon in 1982. Since then, he has run in more than a dozen marathons, including the prestigious Boston Marathon five times, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and even Kona (in Hawaii.) Last year, he added Champaign to the list, choosing to participate in the half-marathon.

For Ellinger, the race served more than a chance to compete in another marathon, but a chance to help out his long time friend Jan Seeley, the co-director of the Champaign Marathon.

“Our connection goes all the way back to the 80s, when we were both co-presidents of the Second Wind Running Club,” Ellinger said. The two shared the leadership role at a time when both were expecting their first child. Furthermore, Ellinger also knows Mike Lindemann, the other director the race from their undergraduate days.

“There’s a connection people have, alumnus go back to the University, and in the classroom you hear talk amongst the students. It gives a buzz around the community and town.”

This year, Ellinger is continuing his volunteer work with the Champaign Marathon, helping with a training group as a pacer.

“You participate in so many races, so you see how important volunteering is,” Ellingeer said about giving back to the community.

As for his own training, Ellinger said he can be seen starting most of his days with a run at Crystal Lake Park in Urbana, sometimes accompanied by his dog.

These days, however, he is a little more cautious on his training.

“I’m on the balance thing — in terms of running marathons really aggressively and avoiding injuries,” he said. “There are only so many miles on knees.

But if there one thing Ellinger hopes to continue in his running career, it is to continue racing for a while.

Look out students, your professor may be the one passing you at the finish line.

Anna Masinelli

As a five-year collegiate runner at Arizona State University (ASU), Anna Masinelli, a graduate student in nutritional sciences, has a good list of accomplishments under her belt. Among the successes she had at ASU were an individual PAC-10 steeple title, as well as being a part of the 2007 National Championship Teams for Indoor and Outdoor Track.

But it wasn’t until nearly two years after she graduated that Masinelli would compete in her first post-collegiate race, running in the half-marathon at Champaign last year.

“I liked the environment (and) I liked racing, but at the same time it was very stressful,” Masinelli said, referring to the intense competition of competing at the Division-I level.

Without fitting in many workouts before the race, Masinelli ended up running the half-marathon in a 1 hour, 23 minutes and 49 seconds, a time that was good enough for third place.

Where Masinelli was used to running 75 miles a week in college, hitting 17 miles on her long runs, the 13.1 miles race was the longest distance she had yet to compete in.

“I was pretty banged up after the half,” Masinelli said. “I took same time off.”

Nevertheless, Masinelli enjoyed the experience.

“I thought it was a lot of fun, everyone already knew each other,” Masinelli said. “Everyone was out cheering.”

This year, Masinelli’s goal is to break 1 hour and 20 minutes.

On a typical week, she runs 35-40 miles, fitting in speed sessions and weights on occasion.

“These days it’s just a lot more running. It’s a lot harder to motivate myself to do weights,” Masinelli said.

Nonetheless, she said years of running have given her a solid base in training. The competitiveness she experienced from her collegiate days still remains, as she runs most days at tempo pace.

While Masinelli admits she is still not much of a cold weather person, she has gotten more used to the weather in Champaign — and the running grounds.

“I like going to Kickapoo Park with the girls (cross-country team),” Masinelli said. “It can get boring here with all the concrete.”

Luckily for Masinelli, she no longer has to worry about sticking to a strict training schedule.

“For me, it’s just part of my day,” Masinelli said. “I make the most of what I can get in.”

Chelsea Besalke

Chelsea Besalke, junior in Education, still remembers that feeling of satisfaction from competing at the Illinois State Cross Country Championships during her senior year of high school.

“As far as individual accomplishments go, until then it had always been academics for me,” Besalke said. “I never got recognized for athletics.”

By participating in this year’s Champaign Marathon, Besalke hopes to experience the same sense of accomplishment as she did in high school.

“I have always wanted to run a marathon, and really regret not doing it last year,” Besalke said.

With a new positive mentality, Besalke is currently following a an 18 week marathon training program that she found online. The program calls for running around 35-45 miles a week, which is not much different from what Besalke did in high school.

“Honestly, during the week my mileage isn’t that different. The only thing that has changed are the long runs.”

Fitting in 15 miles for her long runs now, Besalke said the hardest part was actually not the run itself, but the after effects.

“I’m just eating more than ever, trying to get in enough calories for the body,” Besalke said. “It sounds silly, but it is really hard to eat enough calories.”

For Besalke, she thinks she may have found a solution.

“I have a lot of peanut butter,” Besalke said. “Peanut butter on apples, on bananas, on bagels, on anything.”

As for fueling-up immediately after a run, Besalke has sought the advice from her friend Kate Tysse, a former cross-country runner for the University.

“Drinking chocolate milk after a run sounds disgusting, but honestly, it is the best thing,” Besalke said. “It has a lot of calories and protein. I crave it now after my runs.”

On her long runs, Besalke is currently running at around a 9 minutes 15 seconds pace.

“Obviously my goal is just to finish, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to break four hours,” Besalke said, a time that would require her to run every mile at around 9 minutes pace.

For now, Besalke is doing everything she can to stay healthy. Due to a series of thigh and calf problems, Besalke has been unable to stick to her training schedule over the last few weeks.

“I’ve been a runner my whole life,” Besalke said. “I’ve built up that mentality to run a marathon — pushing myself through when I get tired.”