WHAT IT TAKES TO...
Run a Marathon with Severe Autism
JONATHAN BRUNOT, 19, of West Hempstead, New York, is autistic and speaks
only 10 words. In November, he ran the
New York City Marathon in 4: 49 with
Rolling Thunder, a special-needs running
program. At the finish, he clapped and
waved to his parents for the first time.
Says Brunot’s trainer, Vincent Del-cid: “At the marathon,
Jonathan was confused at first by the crowds as they cheered
for him, but then he liked it and started to run faster. When he
received his medal, he looked up at me and said, ‘Malathon.’”
Be a Hit-and-Run Survivor Run with a Rabid Fox
Schmidt, 57, will run Boston in April.
On a run last October, Congresswoman MICHELLE FELICETTA, 30, of Chino Valley, Arizona, was
JEAN SCHMIDT of Miami Township, running on the trails last November when a rabid fox bit her
Ohio, was struck by a hit-and-run driver. foot, then her left forearm. Felicetta ran a mile and a half
She fractured two vertebrae and two back to her car holding the animal’s neck, its teeth still sunk
ribs—six weeks before she was up for into her arm. She threw the fox in the trunk and drove to the
reelection. A veteran of 74 marathons, hospital, where she was treated with a series of shots.
“When the fox attacked, I kept my cool and knew I had to get
“The best therapy was getting reelected. Running marathons is myself—and it—to a hospital. I couldn’t run for a few weeks be-not that different from politics. It requires patience and tenacity, cause the shots made me tired. But I’m not giving up my beauti-but in the end there is a satisfying sense of accomplishment.” ful trails. Now I carry mace.” —TEXT BY GAIL KISLEVITZ
[SEND NOMINATIONS TO WHATITTAKES@RUNNERSWORLD.COM.]
ON ITS TREADMILL, THE FOUR-INCH SHRIMP MAINTAINS A PACE OF 20 METERS PER MINUTE, OR THREE-QUARTERS OF A MILE PER HOUR.
TOP TO BOTTOM: COURTESY BRIGHTROOM; COURTESY JEAN SCHMIDT; COURTESY DAVID SCHOLNICK AND LOU BURNETT ( 2)
Shrimp Scamper
Tiny athletes go the distance for scientific study
S HRIMP ON A TREADMILL? Sounds like a You Tube gag. Although a video of a hustling crustacean—with a “Chariots
of Fire” sound track—actually did get millions of views
on the popular site, the workout was the work of scientists.
David Scholnick, an animal physiologist at Pacific University,
in Forest Grove, Oregon, and his research partner, Lou Burnett,
director of the Grice Marine Laboratory at the College of Charles-
ton, South Carolina, study the effects of climate change on ma-
rine life. Rising water temperatures can suppress the respiratory
systems of shrimp, and the scientists wanted to know how much.
AQUA JOGGER
Scientists Scholnick
and Burnett fashioned
a mini treadmill out
of a tire inner tube, a
motor they found in
the lab, and bearings
from a skateboard.
Their experiment: Stick a healthy shrimp on the treadmill and
see how long it can run. Then, put a sick shrimp on a treadmill,
and measure how the crustacean’s results change.
There was just one, um, catch: The scientists expected the
healthy shrimp to dash a few minutes, but the tiny athlete kept
at it for more than four hours. They even tried to weigh it down
with a tiny backpack, but the little guy just kept going.
The ultrarunning shrimp may soon have company. Up next:
aquarium gym equipment for research on lobsters and blue
crabs. “It’s trickier because the crabs walk sideways,” Scholnick
says. “They need enough space to flip around.”
