Running On Faith

By Matt Russ

Each athlete has their own unique mix of motivators. Some are good and some are not so good. These may include personal achievement, accomplishment of a goal, competitiveness, to indulge an ego, recognition or fame, social reasons, or to support a team, fitness, fun, etc. I have worked with athletes who are emotionally fueled by a combination of every one of these motivators. I was surprised by Jackie Seibert�s, though; her motivator is her faith, which I find fascinating. It must be a powerful one as she recently finished 7^th overall female and 2^nd in her division at the Atlanta ING Marathon.

The first thing you notice about Jackie is her ready smile. I have worked with her for several years and you rarely see her without a smile on her face. I have witnessed her work a 12-hour day after running 22 miles the day before and she is still smiling. I can assure you, I am not smiling under the same conditions. She works as a physical therapist for Body Pros Physical Therapy and it does not take long for her patients to fall in love with her. You can tell she enjoys her work and takes a real personal interest in her patients� recovery and progress. She especially enjoys rehabing fellow athletes.

Jackie ran track and cross country in high school and at The University of Georgia where she became team captain and was named All Regional. Her stride is picturesque. In fact, I have videotaped her as an example of a near-perfect running form. If you put your hand on her head as she runs with a 190 stride rate, your hand barely moves vertically. Almost all of her energy is projected towards moving her forward.

It is somewhat frustrating as a coach to work in the same location with an athlete of this caliber and to NOT coach them. Although we will discuss and sometimes even plan her training, workouts, nutrition, and taper, she will not let me take the reins. After years of competition, Jackie does not desire my highly analytical, precise, and sometimes intense methods, she just wants to run--- fast. This does not, however, mean that she does not train hard. In fact, her improvement has been dramatic. When pressed, she will tell you running is an expression of her faith and God working through her. She takes absolutely no credit for her performance which I find astounding, and does not �put herself in the equation� as she says. If you attempt to give her accolades, she quickly turns red and deflects the conversation away from herself. The world definitely needs more athletes who are this humble.

The ING was only her third marathon. Jackie points out she had never really �hit the wall� until she started doing marathons. �It is to make it to mile 20 and then see what carries you.� In her case it was the support of her friends and family, especially her former teammate Kendra who jumped in at mile 21 and briefly ran next to her cheering her on. Kendra was not the only one, though. Along the way, she was cheered on at 8 different points on the race course by her Bible study group, her mom, her former high school coach, and various friends to a finish time of 3:10:40. She was one of the first finishers from Georgia and the USA.

My first question was �what�s next?� and Jackie (smiling) just shrugged her shoulders. Whatever her next goal is, you can be assured she is more focused on the journey than the destination. Jackie is truly an exceptional athlete.

Matt Russ has coached and trained elite athletes from around the country and internationally for over ten years. He currently holds an expert license from USA Triathlon, an Elite USA Cycling, and is a licensed USA Track and Field Coach. Matt is head coach and owner of The Sport Factory, and works with athletes of all levels full time. He is a free lance author and his articles are regularly featured in a variety of magazines and websites. Visit http://www.thesportfactory.com/ for more information or email him at coachmatt@thesportfactory.com