Story Photos
 Photo by Bill Wagner Pastor Nick Stumbo of Kelso runs on the Coweeman Dike Trail in preparation for Monday's Boston Marathon. Stumbo is one of a handful of area runners taking part in the "super bowl" of marathons. |
Marathon Man: Local pastor dashes to Boston
Sunday, April 18, 2004 12:33 AM PDT
By Ben Zimmerman
Printable version
E-mail this article"... Let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us." -- Hebrews 12:1
For Nick Stumbo, running marathons is a religious experience.
In the solitude of a run, Stumbo can focus on the things his music and counseling duties as associate pastor at East Hills Alliance Church in Kelso sometimes push into the background.
Like prayer.
"When I trained to be a pastor, I talked a lot about the importance of prayer, but I didn't pray much because I didn't take the time to," Stumbo said. "I was very undisciplined in my spiritual life. A lot of what I do as a pastor involves working with people. I love that. But running is my time to take a step back from my life, look it over, and pray.
"Really, when you are running for 45 minutes, there's nothing else to do," added Stumbo, who is also an assistant football and track coach at R.A. Long High School. "It's a perfect time to pray. It is the most uninterrupted time to consider my relationship with God, and where I'm headed with it."
Stumbo, who turned 26 today, has used distance running to keep himself fit, physically and spiritually, since he ran a marathon for a psychology class project at Crown College in Minnesota in 2000.
On Monday, he and five other local residents will run in the world's oldest marathon, the 104th Boston Marathon.
The Super Bowl of distance running
The cut-off time to qualify for the Boston Marathon is 3 hours, 10 minutes.
Last fall, Stumbo completed his second Portland Marathon (and fourth overall) in 3 hours, 9 minutes and 12 seconds.
Forty-eight more seconds and Stumbo would not have qualified.
"Talk about hitting the wall," he said. "Over the last three or four miles, my body had used all the energy it could store, but I knew that if I slacked off on my pace, I wouldn't make it.
"So I kept up a quick pace right until I finished. I ended up in a medical tent with IV's in my arm."
Part of what kept Stumbo churning to qualify was the intrigue of the elite Boston race, which begins in rural Hopkinton, Mass., and winds almost 27 miles through downtown Boston in front of near-record crowds.
The 100th Boston Marathon in 1996 was the largest non-Super Bowl media event of all-time, Stumbo noted.
"This is the only race I know of that everyone running had to qualify," he said. "Boston shuts down for it, and the crowd support is tremendous."
What truly drives Stumbo on every run is the opportunity for dialogue with God. Each run is another leg on Stumbo's faith journey.
"There are days you don't feel like being kind. There are days when you don't feel like treating someone well. There are days you don't feel like praying," he said. "It doesn't mean you can quit being kind, quit praying. Perseverance is important for a pastor. You persevere, you pray, you look to God for help."
Stumbo has discovered a parallel between spiritual endurance and grinding out the final miles of a long run.
"There are a lot of days where I don't feel like running," he said. "That's life. Running teaches me how to live better."
A new challenge for a former lineman
Stumbo played football while earning his degree in Pastoral Ministries at Crown. Because it was such a small school, and because Stumbo had good footwork, he was switched from tight end to offensive tackle between his sophomore and junior years. Stumbo weighed 220 pounds and spent most downs "going against guys that outweighed me by 50 to 60 pounds."
Given his ultra-competitive nature, Stumbo enjoyed the challenge.
He also could see that an NFL contract was not in his future.
As graduation neared in the spring of 2000, Stumbo knew he would need an outlet to fill the competitive void created by the end of his gridiron career.
"I wasn't involved with any competitive sports," said Stumbo. "I wanted to stay in shape, so I started running."
Stumbo was taking a psychology course which required students to complete a self-improvement project.
"I figured I'd train for a marathon," he said, "and write about the experience. I'd never run more than five miles, so I wasn't sure if I could physically handle going 26."
At first, Stumbo focused on distance only.
"I wasn't looking at my watch," he said.
He kept his early training light: three or four runs of three or four miles per week. Each week, Stumbo increased the distances by 10 percent. The first time he ran 10 miles was "a huge day," he said.
"It was still an unknown whether I could get up to 26," said Stumbo. "But when I did that 10-mile run, I was like, 'I did it!'"
In October 2001, Stumbo ran in the Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis and St. Paul. He stepped to the starting line never having run further than 20 miles.
"I didn't know what was going to happen," he said. "Would my body shut down? I didn't know."
The home stretch of the Twin Cities race rolls over a hill into the downtown. When he crested the hill, Stumbo said it felt incredible.
"I saw this huge 'FINISH' sign in the distance, and this huge crowd," he said. "I was probably hobbling at that point. But I felt like I was sprinting."
Staying the course and showing strength
Their horrible start has caused a frantic exodus from the Seattle Mariners bandwagon. One of the great, hackneyed metaphors in sport has become apt.
"A baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint," diehards remind the fleeing masses.
For Stumbo, this notion is reinforced every day.
"I run for two reasons," he said. "One is to point people to Christ."
Hobbies are effective ministerial tools, Stumbo has discovered, and "running intrigues people and relates to life."
The other reason is more practical, more personal.
"Anyone can sprint for 10 seconds," he said. "Do you have the guts and determination to give it your all for the duration?"
A truly rewarding life requires more than sporadic bursts of speed, said Stumbo.
"I'm not in life to be a sprinter," he said. "A great life is living well, year-after-year, for the right reasons. It's a marathon."
Stumbo said he has never quit on a run.
"My competitive nature won't allow me to do that," he said. "Ever."
Besides, Stumbo would hate to bail on a good conversation.
Marathon facts
WHAT: 108th Boston Marathon
WHEN: Monday, 9 a.m.
DISTANCE: 26 miles, 385 yards (42,195 kilometers)
FIELD SIZE: 20,000 athletes
TV: ESPN2-Channel 33, 8:30 a.m.
LOCAL RUNNERS: Patti Cooper-Karboski, Longview (women's 45-49 age division); Mark Higginson, Longview (men's 45-49); David Lambert, Castle Rock (men's 35-39); Tom Rozwood, Longview (men's 45-49); Nick Stumbo, Kelso (men's 18-34); James Skinner, La Center (men's 45-49).
Ben Zimmerman is a sportswriter for The Daily News. He can be reached at 577-2528 or zim@tdn.com
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