Sault runner excited to 'savour experience' of Tokyo Marathon

The Sault’s Theresa Mudge will be travelling to Japan to run in the 2024 Tokyo Marathon to be held on Sunday, March 3.

“I’ve never been to Tokyo. I just want to take it all in,” Mudge told SooToday.

Mudge, a Sault College Health Care Leadership program professor, is no stranger to marathons.

She has been participating in marathons - gruelling 42-kilometre (26-mile) runs - for the past 17 years, her first in Milwaukee in 2007.

“It was 31 degrees Celsius. It was so hot,” Mudge laughed.

Apart from running several half marathons and other long-distance events, she also ran a 107-kilometre (66-mile) ultramarathon in Utah in 2018 as a fundraiser for ARCH, bringing in $7,000 for the local hospice. 

There are six Abbott World Marathon Majors held annually across the globe in Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York City and Tokyo.

Mudge has run in six major marathons in four of those cities - Chicago in 2009 and 2022, Boston in 2010 and 2011, Berlin in 2015 and most recently in London in April 2023.

Her personal best running time in a major is 3:40:26, achieved in Chicago in 2009.

“Running marathons is exhilarating,” Mudge said.

“I love the energy of these events. There are thousands of runners and hundreds of thousands or even over a million spectators. There’s a feeling of connection with the spectators and other runners. What other event can recreational runners like me run with Olympic gold medallists? It’s unlike any other professional sport. It’s a shared experience.”

Mudge said she is excited to be running the Tokyo Marathon with fellow local long-distance runner Rick Fall and Eliud Kipchoge, a Kenyan long-distance runner esteemed as one of the greatest marathon runners of all time.

“These are large events,” Mudge said.

“The Chicago Marathon had more than 40,000 runners and 1.7 million spectators lining the streets. You run through 29 neighbourhoods. Boston’s marathon is the oldest annual marathon and part of its prestige comes from that."

Mudge said that apart from the physical, mental and emotional satisfaction that comes from finishing a marathon she enjoys the fact that World Marathon Majors allow participating runners to take in the beauty and iconic landmarks those cities have to offer.

“The London Marathon had 39,000 runners. You run across Tower Bridge, past Big Ben and you finish at Buckingham Palace,” she recalled. 

“The Berlin Marathon was the one where I was the most emotional. You finish at the Brandenburg Gate.”

The Brandenburg Gate, built in the 18th century, is considered a monument to Germany's greatness as a world power and also a solemn landmark that recalls the Cold War.

Two U.S. Presidents - John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan - made memorable speeches at the Brandenburg Gate protesting the Berlin Wall that divided East and West Berlin before German reunification took place and the wall was demolished in the 1990s.

“It was such an overwhelming experience when you consider history. It was incredible,” Mudge said.

After Tokyo, she plans to run in the New York City Marathon in November.

“My goals are to run all the World Marathon Majors. Thereafter I want to run all the continents. I’ve run in North America, Europe and I’ll be in Asia when I go to Tokyo. I love to see the world through running. It’s an adventure for me,” Mudge said.

Marathons involve an enormous amount of training.

Mudge says she prepares for marathons 16 to 20 weeks ahead of the long-distance events, increasing her endurance through running three to five days a week, working out and practicing proper nutrition.

Mudge said she planned to run 21 kilometres after speaking to SooToday on Wednesday and run another 34 kilometres on Saturday.

“I push my body hard,” she said.

However, Mudge said the experience of running and finishing marathons is worth it.

“Overall I love the feeling of getting through that process. Marathons are a great analogy for life itself. There’s joy, there’s pain and everything in between. Every one of these events has so much of those dimensions within them.”

She said it is not necessarily her intention to set a new personal best running time for herself in Tokyo.

“There was a time when I was focused on improving my performance and setting personal best times. Now I just want to enjoy the experience. I still want to do the best I can but my focus has shifted to viewing marathons as a celebration of my training.”

“My goal is to savour the experience,” Mudge said.