Sandra McGill: If you would, please tell me your name and your title.
Talia Levine: Talia Levine, and I am a graduate assistant at the National Park Service. Is that the title you wanted?
SM: Sure! That’s fine.
TL: Okay.
SM: And you’re a second-year master’s student?
TL: I’m a first-year master’s student at the Odum School of Ecology.
SM: Okay. And how do I spell your name?
TL: T-A-L-I-A, and last name is Levine: L-E-V-I-N-E.
SM: Excellent. And you are running a marathon. Would you tell me about that?
TL: Yes. I am running the New York Marathon on November 6, and I’ve never run a marathon before. I’ve done half-marathons. I’m actually doing this one because my mother passed away just under two years ago, and had a very sudden heart attack. She was very healthy, and [this was] unexpected. So I am running with the American Heart Association team and fund raising for them, so that’s why I decided to run it.
SM: Excellent. And did you run half-marathons at all before she passed away?
TL: Yes. So I’ve been running—I’ve been doing races for the last 10 years. I did my first half-marathon 10 years ago. So I’ve done—I guess I’ve run about five or six half-marathons, but never a full.
SM: Okay. And what inspired you to initially start running?
TL: Um … that’s a good question. I think part—well, I think I started, you know, for weight loss and probably to get in shape—a lot of what initially motivates people. But I think I have kept doing it because it’s good for one’s sanity. (laughs)
SM: So first for weight; now for sanity.
TL: Yes. (laughs)
SM: Wow; neat. Tell me your training schedule.
TL: So right now I run three kind of shorter to moderate runs throughout the week, and then a long run on the weekend. And it kind of ramps up each week, so this past weekend I ran 10 on Saturday, and this upcoming weekend I’ll have to run 12.
SM: Miles or kilometers?
TL: Miles.
SM: Okay.
TL: And I’m trying to remember—I think—well, nevermind: I’m not going to say that because I don’t know if it’s accurate. But that’s about what the schedule is. And then you have another day or two where you can throw in some cross-training, if you want to do walking or swimming or biking or something, if you’re not exhausted, which generally I am. (laughs)
SM: And how long are your short runs, generally?
TL: Right now they are five and six miles.
SM: And at what time of day do you run those?
TL: It depends on my schedule with school, but anywhere from—um—sometimes, you know, seven in the morning; five in the morning, sometimes nine or 10 at night—it just depends on when I can get it in. So I don’t have a very patterned schedule! (laughs)
SM: Cool beans. What inspired you to run a full marathon this time?
TL: I think it’s been on my bucket list; I just wanted to see if I could do it. When I first started running halfs, I didn’t think that I could run a half. I just learned that, like anything else, you just have to work at it and train, and if you dedicate yourself to it, you can accomplish it. So I’ve wanted to kind of test myself with the full to see if I can do that without dying! (laughs) That’s my main goal.
SM: What do you expect?
TL: Uh, potentially to die! (laughs) I expect I’m going to—I’m prepared to walk/run, so I don’t think—it’s been a while since I’ve run. So this is really just to kind of get back into it. So I hope to finish: that is my goal, just to finish and try to enjoy [it]. [I’ll] get to run through the five villas of New York, so I’ll try to enjoy the experience and not be too hard on myself. So that is my expectation: just to walk across that finish line, or run. I guess run would be better. (laughs)
SM: And why did you choose one so far away?
TL: Um, I think just because it’s an iconic race. And I wanted something I would be excited about to motivate me to train for it and do it.
SM: Awesome. Tell me about the American Heart Association. Why are you specifically running for them?
TL: So I have lost two family members to heart-related conditions: my grandmother died when she was—when I was a baby—from a stroke, very suddenly, and then my mom of a heart attack. So, um, just kind of seeing how people’s lives can change somewhat dramatically: even when you think someone’s healthy and, you know, skinny and exercises and eats right, there are still underlying conditions that people can have. So I wanted to support their research and their health outreach programs to hopefully prevent that from happening in other people’s lives.
SM: And how have you found running and training is fitting in with your own health?
TL: I think it’s been really good. I think, you know—I’m sure you can relate: having started grad school, I probably would not be exercising right now if I were not, you know, afraid that I would be embarrassed (laughs) in three months’ time by not being able to finish the race. So I think it’s been a good motivator for me, and I find that when I have a schedule like that, that I’m a lot more likely to stick to it than when left to my own devices.
SM: Did you run for any charitable causes before your mom passed?
TL: This is—no. I mean, I think I’ve done races in the past that have supported charitable causes, but this is the first time I’ve kind of taken on fundraising as part of a racing experience.
SM: And I know your mom passed away two years ago, you said. Why wait until now?
TL: I was going to—so, it happened in December of 2014. I was actually supposed to run last year, [but] I hurt myself and couldn’t do it. So I deferred until this year, and I’m running with a team this year. So I’ve actually kind of been fundraising for two years! (laughs)
SM: Tell me about the fundraising aspect.
TL: So you have to raise $3,500 to run, and last year I raised $6,500! This year has not been as profitable, because I think most people donated last year. But luckily I don’t have a level I have to achieve this year; they’re letting me run because I already did my fundraising. But I’m still trying, and techniques I’m using—aside from peer pressure—are I have a dog who likes to sing. So every time someone donates, she and I sing a song together and post it to the person’s Facebook wall. (laughs) And I’ve even thought about trying to record something to send to Ellen DeGeneres, to see if she would feature it and maybe some. So that is in the works in the next couple of months. (laughs)
SM: That’s hilarious. That is very funny!
TL: You gotta get creative, you know?! [There are a lot of] people with a lot of causes. You have to do something to stand out a little.
SM: What are your other techniques for raising funds?
TL: Um, you know, the first time was really easy because there were a lot of people who really loved my mom, so I [reached out] to a lot of her friends and family members. Facebook has—I’m not a huge social-media person, but Facebook was definitely, you know, paramount in helping me to achieve that goal and kind of getting the message out. Honestly, it really was pretty easy last year because of that. This year I’m having more trouble and am needing to get a little more creative. I’m a group fitness instructor, and I’ve taught yoga in the past, so I’ve thought about maybe trying to organize some classes for donation, or things like that toward the end of things. If I’m not kind of at the level where I want to be, to see if I can maybe boost my donations generated a little bit.
SM: Is that because you don’t want to ask the same people again?
TL: Yeah—I mean, you know. People were pretty generous in their donations last year, and I know that people have a lot of things going on. So I’ll probably email some of the people who didn’t donate last year, who maybe, you know, might be interested in doing it this year. But I don’t like pressuring people too much. I want to make them feel like there’s something in it for them.
SM: You mentioned [the race benefits] the American Heart Association. Why that particular vascular association as opposed to another one that also does vascular research?
TL: Hmm; that’s a good question. I think they’re just kind of the primary one that comes to mind. I’ve been CPR certified and AED certified through them for many years. So I think people just kind of respect that organization, and think that they make a huge impact in people’s lives. So I guess they were kind of the first that came to mind, and since they do stroke and heart disease and heart attack, it seemed like it fit my situation well.
SM: Do you happen to know how much of the funds that are raised go toward research and that kind of thing, as opposed to operational expenses?
TL: That’s a good question. They send us emails about how they are going to use the funds, and they did send a communication out recently about (searches her phone for the email)—oh, I’m not going to be able to find it. But they sent something out about how much it takes for certain preventive education [and] things like that. I should have a better answer to that, and I don’t. but I can certainly follow up with you about that later.
SM: If you find that email, would you send it to me?
TL: Sure.
SM: My email address is sandralmcgill@gmail.com. Thank you!
TL: Sure. I’ll try to find that tonight.
SM: How long have you been training for this particular marathon?
TL: This one, I’ve been seriously [training] for about six weeks, and I’ve got about ten weeks to go. So I was kind of running a little bit off and on before that, but my schedule is a 16-week training schedule.
SM: What would you like people to know?
TL: I think that you can never judge a book by its cover, in a lot of different ways. My mom was someone who—she and I did not really resemble one another in body: she was very—she used to always tell me that she could never gain weight. That was her problem growing up, which I’ve never experienced! (laughs) But she also, you know, didn’t really—because of that—didn’t go to the doctor very much. She just always kind of assumed that she was in good health. I think that you can lead a very healthy lifestyle and [bad] things can still happen, so I think it’s good to get checked out and kind of stay on top of that. I think the flip side of that is, you know, I think a lot of people would look at me and probably think, “Oh, you’re going to run 13 miles?” Or “You’re going to run 26 miles?” and probably assume that’s not necessarily something I can do based on my body [type] (she is a bit heavy set), but I think that you kind of never know what people have going on, what kinds of hobbies they’re into, and what types of things they devote themselves to in life. I guess that would be my primary takeaway.
SM: What would you like people to do?
TL: I guess maybe two things. One would be to find something that you’re passionate about and support it in the way that you can, in the way that feels authentic to you, I guess. And then I think one really powerful lesson—a kind of takeaway for me from running—has been that, I don’t know that it’s true that you can do anything you set your mind to, because I know that there are places where you’ll have more natural skill. But I think that running is a good example of something where just showing up and being consistent, you notice that you get better. So I think that’s kind of 99 percent of life, they say, is showing up and trying. So if there’s something that you want to do and you want to try, try it, and even if it doesn’t go well the first time, continuing to show up and continuing to do it and looking at it six weeks, six months down the line, and kind of seeing where you are. And then if you’re terrible at it, you can quit! (laughs) But at least try it for about six months to a year before quitting. That’s my message! (laughs)
SM: What other health benefits have you noticed as a runner?
TL: I think, just, definitely reduced stress. I think it helps to manage times in your life where you know, you’re busy; you have emotional things going on; or whatever the case may be. I think it’s kind of cheap therapy. I think just feeling like I can keep up with my two-year-old nephew better when I’m running after him, and I think I just have a better quality of life when I’m running because I feel more energetic. I feel like I can go out and do things and have better energy when I’m doing it.
SM: What have I not asked that you’d like people to know?
TL: Well, I’d like them to know that if they’d like to donate to my campaign (laughs), I am happy to provide that information! (laughs) If you’d like to advertise that to UGA!
SM: Thanks so much! Is there anything else you’d like to add?
TL: No. Thank you for the interview; I appreciate it!
SM: You’re welcome!