Faculty and Grad Students Participate in Tucson Marathon
Dec. 24, 2015
Roger Dahlgran, AREC faculty member, and two master's students, Suhina Deol and Josh Albright, all participated in the 2015 Tucson Marathon on December 6th. Dahlgran ran the full course of the Holualoa Tucson Marathon, while Deol and Albright completed the Damascus Bakeries Half-Marathon.
Asked about their experiences, Josh Albright says it was Suhina's idea to participate. Neither student is a runner, but they both began training in September. “This is the first time I've consistently done 4+ mile walks,” says Albright. Deol continues, “My goal was just to do it and I did. We walked the half-marathon and our time was about 3 hours and 47 minutes.”
Roger Dahlgran passed both students and completed the course in 3 hours and 37 minutes which was, as he puts it, “good enough for 2nd in my age group (canes and walkers). There were plenty of runners faster than me.” He is a regular marathon participant—approaching his 40th marathon—and has run the Boston Marathon six times. Dahlgran trains year round. “I try to get at least 50 miles per week but mileage varies depending on commitments and temperatures.” He's most definitely southern Arizona lover, too: “The Tucson course is beautiful. It features spectacular scenery on the north side of the Catalina Mountains and ideal marathon temperatures (50–60 degrees). I have run the course every year for 20 plus years and only once have I run it in the rain. It is typically cold at the start in Oracle but it begins to warm up within the first half hour.” An enthusiastic hiker, Dahlgran has made many rim-to-rim hikes in the Grand Canyon and has also walked the entire Arizona Trail beginning at the Mexican border and finishing at the Utah/Arizona line.