NatNews

According to the most recent data available, approximately 1.1 million individuals complete marathons each year. For some people, running such a distance is a bucket list accomplishment; for others, especially avid endurance runners, it’s simply another race to add to a training cycle.

And for those who don’t understand why anyone would run for fun or enjoyment, it’s bizarre. But runners don’t always do things that make sense to everyone—including to themselves. Former Dallas Police Department criminal intelligence officer Jerod Honrath, who now lives in the Austin area, never thought he would find himself crossing the finish line 26.2 miles later.

“I started by training for a half marathon with my first sergeant at the Dallas Police Department in 2000,” he said. “After completing the half, I said no way will I ever run longer or a marathon. A few months later, I was training with that same sergeant and ran my first marathon in 2002 at Chicago.”

Honrath has now run 216 marathons, his most recent being yesterday’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona in Tempe.

“I continue to train and run them because it’s a great way to see not only the USA but also the entire world,” he said. “Running has opened up numerous places that I probably would have never visited if it weren’t for running. I am also a very competitive person and like to compete against myself, which running has definitely afforded me.”

Aside from being able to surround oneself with new scenery, marathons also allow runners to gain senses of accomplishment and pride.

“It’s such a huge thing to work for and achieve,” Dallas-area resident and development manager Rachel Balthrop Mendoza said. “Hundreds and hundreds of hours and miles, all toward one end, and there’s always room for improvement. I do them and will continue to do them because I always strive to do better—some other goal I’ve set, some new time to hit, some new race to run. There will always be something.”

Balthrop Mendoza ran her 11th marathon Sunday at the Chevron Houston Marathon. One of her most memorable races, though, was the BMW Dallas Marathon in 2021—her first 26.2 race in 10 years after taking some time off from the distance to have and raise three babies.

“I trained harder for it than I had for anything previously, and it showed,” she said. “It was a tough race for me, but I did well. I love our hometown race and will always try to find a way to be a part of it every year.”

Not everyone shares Balthrop Mendoza’s and Honrath’s passions for the marathon, though. Dallas-area resident and CEO and president of new tech startup company Key03 Josh Odegard said he has zero intention of ever making marathons a part of his life.

“I’m fortunate enough to run a half marathon in under 90 minutes, but I get so bored even halfway through a half that I don’t want to do it anymore,” he said. “I can’t even fathom the mental fortitude it must take to run a 5–6-hour marathon.”

Regardless of whether or not others understand why people make conscious choices to run marathons, Balthrop Mendoza said she is going to continue to strive toward her goals in this sometimes loved and other times hated distance.

“It’s a feeling of accomplishment like nothing else can give,” she said. “The high is palpable, and the pride you have knowing your hard work paid off makes you look toward what’s next. There’s always the next one.”

In ancient Greece and Rome, spiderwebs were used as bandages.

As technology has continued to progress, individuals have more options for the ways they consume their forms of entertainment. Both avid and casual readers are now able to choose whether they prefer to sit down and read their selected books or listen to the recorded words read aloud to them in the form of audiobooks.

For those who enjoy opening hardback or paperback copies and getting lost in stories but find themselves with less time than they wish they had, audiobooks have made possible the ability to become absorbed in a book while driving, completing tasks around one’s home, or multitasking in a number of other ways.

“I listen to them because I’m so busy,” Dallas-area resident and middle school English teacher Stephanie Hone said. “It’s easy to listen to a book while getting ready, driving, walking, running, etc. I will listen and then pick up the actual book once I’m not moving around. I’m able to finish a book much faster that way.”

There’s an ongoing debate as to whether or not listening to a book counts as “reading.” Dallas resident and elementary school librarian Megan Barnes argues that it does not matter if one is using his or her eyes or ears to take in the content of a story.

“Audiobooks can actually enhance the experience of a book, especially for those that lean on auditory experiences as part of their narratives, such as Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan and The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb,” Barnes said.

Dallas resident and senior sales director Keith Jensen, who reads on a daily basis, said that he enjoys the convenience of audiobooks as well as the meaningful connection one is able to make in certain listening instances.

“I actually prefer hearing the author read the book,” he said. “And they are able to add actual recordings, so you really get a deeper feel.”

Audiobook sales continue to grow consistently each year, with revenue reaching more than $1.6 billion in 2021. Despite their use trending upward, some individuals do not believe that listening to them in their entirety is the same experience as turning the page of a book.

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“I think audiobooks do not count as reading, because when you read, you create more imaginative thoughts,” Dallas-area resident and middle school teacher Cali Hoffman said. “And when you listen to an audiobook, you just absorb what you are hearing, such as the information or story.”

While Barnes may not agree, she understands that some people prefer traditional reading to listening to stories.

“Audiobooks aren’t for everybody,” she said. “If you struggle with auditory processing or with attentiveness, it can be easy to miss parts of the book. A book performer can make or break a book experience, even if you otherwise like the writing.”

A study published in The Journal of Neuroscience revealed that both traditional reading and listening to stories stimulated the same cognitive and emotional areas, furthering researchers’ understanding of how the brain provides semantic meaning to the squiggly letters and bursts of sound that make up human communication. This finding is similar to Dallas resident and senior principal consultant Alex Farcasiu’s neutral stance on the matter.

“There’s room for both,” he said. “I feel that reading a book, especially an old-fashioned printed book, enables a better interaction with the content. But an audiobook allows us to learn or enjoy a story as we drive or work around the house. The short answer is that listening to an audiobook is not the same as reading, but it still counts.”

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