Becca Pizzi

Becca Pizzi in Moozy's, the ice cream shop she manages, in 2016.

Rebecca "Becca" Pizzi (born 1980)[1][2] is an American marathon runner, the current record holder for, and the first American woman to complete the World Marathon Challenge, a series of seven marathons on seven continents in seven consecutive days.

Early and professional life

Pizzi credits her father, who ran competitively for the University of Massachusetts, for her running inspiration.[3] She started running with him at the age of six, completing her first race that same year. She graduated Belmont High School in 1998, and Mars Hill College in 2002, competing in track and field and cross country running in both institutions.[4] Her 2000 Mars Hill cross country team was the first such team from Mars Hill to compete at the NCAA National Championship meet. She was part of a South Atlantic Conference championship team for each of four years, serving as the as the team captain during her senior year.[5] After college, she was a coach for the Team In Training leukemia fundraising marathon program. She ran her first Boston Marathon at the age of 17, her longest race before college, and had run it 15 times by 2015.[6][4][7] Her running goal is to run a marathon in every state, and she had run 45 marathons in 27 states by 2015.[8] She had never had an injury in 30 years of running.[3]

Pizzi returned to Belmont after graduation, where she started the Belmont Track club, and runs weekly with the Boston Bulldogs Running Club, an addiction recovery support group.[2][9] Pizzi works two jobs, owning a day care and managing an ice cream parlor, and is a single mother of a young daughter (she continued to run while pregnant, until 2 days before giving birth).[3] Following in her footsteps, her daughter also ran her first race at the age of six.[4][7]

Series of marathons

Pizzi says that as soon as she heard about the World Marathon Challenge, she knew she had to run it. Only one American, Timothy Durbin, and only one woman, Marianna Zaikova of Finland, had completed the series of seven marathons on seven continents (Union Glacier, Antarctica; Punta Arenas, Chile; Miami, Florida; Madrid, Spain; Marrakesh, Morocco; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Sydney, Australia) in seven consecutive days.[8] Pizzi had never been to any continent besides North America.[6] She consulted her daughter first of all; her daughter's friends thought she was crazy, but her daughter gave her approval, saying: "Mom, finish strong".[10][1]

External video
Belmont Woman Runs 7 Marathons In 7 Days, On 7 Continents, 4:06, February 16, 2016, WGBH News[11]
Meet the first U.S. woman to complete the World Marathon Challenge, 5:36, February 18, 2016, CBS This Morning[12]

In preparation, which she started January 1 2015,[6] Pizzi ran 70-100 miles a week before her daughter woke up, then did further training at nighttime, including yoga and cross-training, totaling 30 hours a week, while still working at the ice cream parlor and day care.[8][1] She would end up getting more sleep on the plane flights during the challenge (seven hours per night), than during her preparation (five hours).[11][13] Her race preparation received national and international coverage.[14][15][16][17] The entry fee was $36,000, which Pizzi had to ask for additional time to find sponsors to help cover.[10] She found Ultima Replenisher, a maker of electrolyte-replacement drinks, Dr. Cool ice wraps, and Lyon-Waugh Auto group, a local car dealership, that together covered 75% of the cost, the first two also providing their products to help her run.[8][18][19] A Belmont bank hosted an autograph signing session for her departure, donated money in her name to the Belmont Food Pantry, and followed her progress via its website.[20][21]

On the first marathon, January 23, on a glacier in Antarctica, the sub-zero temperatures made Pizzi's iPod freeze and burst; she would later say it was her least favorite run because of the cold, but also her favorite and most memorable run because of the beauty and silence.[22][23][24][25] Her standard running partner, a Boston attorney, ran with her in Chile.[10] In the North American marathon, in Miami, she was watched by friends including the owner of the ice cream shop she manages, and her running coach from Mars Hill, and she ran the last six miles with a nine year old girl she had been mentoring.[26][27] After her finish, she watched the other competitors come on for over an hour before she rested or ate.[21] In Madrid, she was surprised by meeting Zaikova, who joined her for half of the race.[27] Marrakesh was difficult because it was only 12 hours later, but she was bolstered by her running partner biking beside her.[27] In Dubai she suffered her first running injury ever, falling with a groin muscle tear during the second mile.[27][13] To overcome the pain, she thought of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, and his quote "I didn’t come this far to just come this far"[28] and was able to get up and finish the race, though running her slowest time of the seven marathons.[27] By the time her plane landed in Sydney for the final marathon, her groin was black and blue and swollen to the size of a softball, but she still completed the race, and her boyfriend greeted her at the finish line.[27][29][24]

Pizzi finished an average of an hour ahead of all four of the other women competitors in all seven races. Her cumulative time of 27:26:15 hours (an average time of 3:55:11 hours) was declared a world record for the event. Her cumulative time was better than those of nine of the eleven men competing.[30][31][21] A fellow American, Daniel Cartica, a U.S. Marine Corps captain from Chicago won the men's marathon, also in world record time; only he and another U.S. Marine finished faster than Pizzi.[32][26]

Post marathon

When Pizzi returned home, Belmont held a parade in her honor, and declared February 4th "Becca Pizzi Day".[33] She received certificates of accomplishment from the Massachusetts House, Senate, and Governor.[34] U. S. Representative Katherine Clark read a tribute to her into the Congressional Record.[35]The "Becca Pizzi Family Fun Run", a 5K run, was named after her, and first run in Belmont on April 10, 2016, by 200 people.[36][37] The ice cream parlor she manages named a flavor after her, "Becca 7", with seven ingredients.[27][38] Mars Hill University named her one of two alumni of the year for 2016.[39]

Pizzi continued her 100 mile per week training pace for the 2016 Boston Marathon.[40] Before the marathon, Pizzi was honored along with Boston Marathon legends Bobbi Gibb and Meb Keflezighi by the Boston Athletic Association.[41] On April 17, 2016, the Boston Red Sox let her throw out the ceremonial first pitch, but before she did so, her boyfriend of five years made her the world's first woman proposed to on the Fenway Park pitcher's mound; Pizzi accepted.[42][43]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Olya, Gabrielle (December 29, 2015). "Becca Pizzi Aims to Be First American Woman to Complete World Marathon Challenge". People. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  2. 1 2 Berkowitz, Bram (Jan 8, 2016). "Becca Pizzi seeks to run seven marathons in seven days on seven continents". The Patriot Ledger. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Wade, Alison (December 17, 2015). "One Woman's Goal: 7 Marathons, 7 Continents, 7 Days". Runner's World. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "Profiles of Belmont residents running in this year's Boston Marathon". Belmont Citizen-Herald. April 20, 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "MHU Alum Pizzi to Attempt 2016 World Marathon Challenge". Mars Hill Lions. Mars Hill University. July 27, 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 "MHU alumna Becca Pizzi set to run 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days". Mars Hill University. January 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  7. 1 2 Thompson, Barry (April 14, 2015). "Boston Marathon 2015 Runner Profile: Becca Pizzi". Patch Media. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Kole, William J. (December 3, 2015). "Beast mode: Becca Pizzi vying to be 1st US woman to run 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  9. ↑ Pizzi, Becca (December 14, 2015). "Giving Back to the Community". Laughter Is a Great Ab Workout. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 Chrissos, Joan (January 25, 2016). "How a mom is running 7 marathons in 7 days across 7 continents". Miami Herald. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  11. 1 2 Blank, Nikki (February 16, 2016). "Belmont Woman Runs 7 Marathons In 7 Days, On 7 Continents". WGBH. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  12. ↑ "Meet the first U.S. woman to complete the World Marathon Challenge". CBS This Morning. CBS. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  13. 1 2 Young, Robin (February 26, 2016). "7 Marathons On 7 Continents In 7 Days – And She Won Them All". Here and Now. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  14. ↑ Rivero, Tanya (December 8, 2015). "Seven Marathons, Seven Days, Seven Continents: What to Pack?". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  15. ↑ Simard, Simon (December 15, 2015). "From Tank Tops to Snow Cleats". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  16. ↑ "Nastavila režim bestie. Pokud nepadne, obletí svět za 7 dnů". Sport.cz. December 6, 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  17. ↑ Pennington, Roberta (December 11, 2015). "Seven days, seven continents, seven marathons ... and Dubai plays its part". The National. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  18. ↑ Soong, Kelyn (December 3, 2015). "Seven marathons. Seven days. Seven continents. One Boston woman's quest.". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  19. ↑ Potkewitz, Hilary (December 15, 2015). "Packing for a Marathon Run Through Seven Continents in Seven Days". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  20. ↑ Putnam, Bailey (January 15, 2016). "Belmont woman aims to make history by running seven marathons in seven days". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  21. 1 2 3 Putnam, Bailey (January 29, 2016). "Belmont woman finishes 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  22. ↑ Grathoff, Pete (January 29, 2016). "Massachusetts woman completes seven marathons in seven continents in seven days". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  23. ↑ "Chicago man wins World Marathon Challenge: 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days". Chicago Tribune. January 29, 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  24. 1 2 "Meet the first U.S. woman to complete the World Marathon Challenge". CBS News. February 18, 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  25. ↑ Chávez, Karen (February 17, 2016). "Q&A with Becca Pizzi, women's World Marathon Champ". Asheville Citizen-Times. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  26. 1 2 Chávez, Karen (January 29, 2016). "183 miles in seven days: Mars Hill grad wins marathon challenge". Asheville Citizen-Times. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Grossfeld, Stan (January 31, 2016). "Born to run: A marathon accomplishment for Belmont woman". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  28. ↑ Actually, Brady was repeating a quote he had read. "Tom Brady's Inspirational Playoff Quote: 'I Didn't Come This Far To Only Come This Far'". WBZ-TV. January 6, 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  29. ↑ "#BeYourOwnIcon: Becca Pizzi Day". American Sunglass. March 4, 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  30. ↑ "2016 Results". World Marathon Challenge. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  31. ↑ "Cartica and Pizzi win 2016 World Marathon Challenge". World Marathon Challenge. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  32. ↑ Associated Press (January 29, 2016). "Daniel Cartica, Becca Pizzi run 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents". ESPN.com. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  33. ↑ Putnam, Bailey (February 5, 2016). "Hundreds welcome world marathoner Becca Pizzi home to Belmont". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  34. ↑ Berkowitz, Bram (February 5, 2016). "Belmont welcomes Becca Pizzi home from World Marathon Challenge with celebration and parade". Belmont Citizen-Herald. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  35. ↑ Clark, Katherine M. (February 26, 2016). "Tribute to Becca Pizzi". Congressional Record. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  36. ↑ Tucker, Franklin B. (March 15, 2016). "Run With A Champion on April 10 At Inaugural Becca Pizzi 5K". The Belmontonian. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  37. ↑ "200 runners finish Becca Pizzi Family Fun Run". Belmont Citizen-Herald. Apr 12, 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  38. ↑ ""Becca 7"". Moozy's Ice Cream & Yogurt Emporium. April 23, 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  39. ↑ Chávez, Karen (October 20, 2016). "MHU honors ultra runner and Hollywood designer". Asheville Citizen-Times. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  40. ↑ Thompson, Rich (April 13, 2016). "After conquering world marathons, Becca Pizzi now back to Boston". Boston Herald. Archived from the original on 2016-04-17. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  41. ↑ McGinnes, Meagan (April 16, 2016). "Belmont woman who ran 7 marathons in 7 days honored alongside Boston Marathon legends". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  42. ↑ Hegedus, Heather (April 17, 2016). "Woman who finished 7 marathons in 7 days gets big surprise at Fenway". WFXT. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  43. ↑ McGinnes, Meagan (April 18, 2016). "World Marathoner on her Fenway engagement and Boston Marathon: 'I don't know how I'm going to top these past few days'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 24 September 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/22/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.