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03/26/2007
Cool RunningsA father and daughter take on the Antarctica Marathon
Anne Bonney (left) and her father, Al, aboard the ship that took them to Antarctica for the marathon. TRAVERSE CITY — When Anne Bonney agreed to run a three-mile relay leg in the 2002 Baltimore Marathon, little did she realize it would change her life. "I had never run more than a mile in my life,” the 1991 Interlochen Arts Academy graduate said. "But I was relatively fit. I thought I could run three miles.” She did, and so thoroughly enjoyed the experience she signed up to run a half-marathon soon afterward. Five years later, Bonney, 33, is still running — and biking and swimming, as it turns out. She's finished 10 marathons (26.2 miles), 15 triathlons and an Ironman (2&½ mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run). She's training for another triathlon on May 20 and a 24-hour adventure race (trail running, mountain biking, whitewater rafting, orienteering) on May 26. Far different from her training at Interlochen, where her goal was to become a singer. Bonney gave up that pursuit — "I didn't want that lifestyle” — and eventually turned her energies to endurance sports once she went to work for Under Armour, a sports apparel company in Baltimore. "Everybody here (at Under Armour) was an athlete in high school and college,” Bonney said. "I was in the choir.” That all changed in 2002. Now, Bonney, the senior manager for women's marketing at Under Armour, is in the midst of joining a growing number of runners completing marathons on all seven continents. She just finished two in the last month — the Antarctica Marathon and the Fin Del Mundo Marathon in South America (Ushuaia, Argentina). Ushuaia is the southern-most city in the world Bonney's father, Al, an Old Mission Peninsula resident, joined her on the excursion. Not as a spectator, but as a participant. Al, 63, walked and jogged a half marathon in Antarctica and completed the full marathon in Ushuaia. He found himself amongst runners after his daughter's friend, who had originally signed up for the event, dropped out last summer. Since the 18-day trip is organized by a private tour company and spots are limited and coveted — Anne Bonney booked the 2007 race in 2004 — Anne checked with friends and family to see if anyone wanted to fill the vacancy. Her father responded. "My dad said, 'I'll come and cheer you on',” Anne Bonney said. "I said, 'Don't cheer me on. Do a race'. He did both.” Al Bonney, local director of the Cherryland Barbershop Chorus, walks the peninsula regularly for exercise. But a race? He had never given that a thought until Anne asked. "She said, 'You've got seven months to train',” Al Bonney said. "I thought it would be fun. So I worked out a (marathon) program and started training. "I always intended to walk. I'm not a runner. I'm 63. I couldn't run 26 miles if my life depended on it. "But I've walked every day for years. It wasn't like walking and exercising were new to me. I wasn't starting from couch potato status. I just hadn't had any type of focused program before — and that appealed to me. To have a goal. I'm a goal-oriented guy.” So for seven months he trained. In October, about halfway through his program, he took part in the Detroit Free Press Half-Marathon and had no problem covering the 13.1 miles. "That's a distance that doesn't beat you up,” he said. Still, there were concerns if he could go 26.2 miles. "The race director for the Antarctica Marathon called me at one point and said, 'I'm concerned about your father. That he's not going to be able finish the race',” Anne recalled. "I said, 'Don't worry about my dad. He's a healthy guy. He'll be fine'.” Al's goal was to walk the entire 26.2-mile Antarctica Marathon, but he opted for the shorter version because of treacherous, unstable course conditions. He finished the half in 3 hours, 35 minutes and 24 seconds. Anne ran the full marathon in 6:30.41. It's a demanding marathgon in one of the world's most remote locations. Because of conditions, times are often slow. The course took runners along a road that connects the Russian, Chinese, Argentinean and Uruguayan research stations. Runners trudged through mud, snow and ice, along a cobblestone beach — and a mile up a glacier. "It was very difficult,” Al Bonney said. "Even the serious marathoners were running an hour to an hour and a half behind their normal pace. "Certainly running up and down a glacier didn't help (times). And the 40 knot winds at the top the glacier slowed everyone down, too.” The race day temperature was around 35 degrees, but that actually contributed to the muddy, slushy conditions along part of the course. Conditions were much better eight days later when father and daughter completed the marathon in Argentina. "Finished fifth from last,” Al said. "But I finished.” His time of 6:19:40 was faster than he anticipated., "I told (Anne) it would take me seven hours,” he said. "I came in 40 minutes early. "It wasn't a particularly fascinating time, but for a 63-year-old guy who doesn't do this sort of thing I felt pretty good about it.” Anne came in at 5:18:40. "I'm not a fast runner,” Anne said. "I usually do my marathons between 4½ to 5 hours. I'm not going to win anything so I figure I might as well have a good time.” And that's what the Bonneys did. Finish times? Irrelevant. The experience? Priceless. "This turned out to be one of life's more memorable things,” Al Bonney said. For Al, who managed Marriott Hotels in various cities around the world, it began as purely a father-daughter trip. It ended up much more. Not only did he get a taste of Anne's world — sharing a race experience with her — but the two were able to see "an incredibly unique place” and meet some fascinating people. Just what Anne expected. "Dad and I were talking about our favorite parts of the trip on the way home,” Anne said. "We both agreed the marathon was great, but the people were awesome. The people you're running with are positive, energetic, healthy. They're fun to talk to. Those are the type of people you end up surrounding yourself with. My best friends are my running friends. It's a fun, social, healthy outlet.” Al Bonney said he now has a deep appreciation for marathon runners. "I became very respectful of what these people (runners) go through,” he said. "All marathoners, it turns out, start to run out of gas at 18 to 20 miles — and they've still got six to eight miles to go. It's tough.” But he's glad he went through with it. In more ways than one. "I feel better,” he said. "I feel stronger. I've got more energy. "Plus, there's an emotional pride having gotten through this. I don't know whether I'll do anymore (marathons). That was a lot of work.” But the half-marathon? That's another story. He's already recruited his sister (who lives in Maine) and brother and sister-in-law (who live in New Hampshire) to come to Traverse City to do the Bayshore Half-Marathon in May. "It's funny because that happens a lot,” Anne Bonney said. "As people get into these events, and they see how fun it is, how good they feel, they start recruiting people.” Just like she was recruited on the Antarctica trip. Turns out, another marathon runner she met there talked her into running a 50-mile ultra race — the JFK 50 — in November. Anne Bonney looks at it as just another challenge. After you put the training in, she said, the rest is mental. "Fifty percent of endurance events is believing you can do it and having the guts to walk up to the starting line and just go,” she said.
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