EWING, NJ – On any given day students are seen jogging around the loop that surrounds the heart of one the nation’s most competitive schools.

As many students at The College of New Jersey are aware, it’s hard enough to balance class, homework, a job, and social life, let alone making time to work out. Running and athletics take up a significant portion of the limited amount of time that many college students have for themselves.

When Kendahl Shortway, and Alana Richards (The College of New Jersey) made the decision to participate in the Philadelphia Marathon which will be held on November 18th, they had no choice but to be prepared for the challenge that was ahead of them.

In high school Shortway and Richards would have cringed at the thought of running a mile, let alone an entire marathon. It wasn’t until recently that they realized that training for such a demanding event was not only benefiting their health, but it was actually improving their academic life.

“Running really gets your mind off of school for a short time, and I find with having to train so much that you learn to manage time better which helps me do better in my classes,” says Shortway.

After running the Vermont Marathon in 2006, Shortway found that training for such an event improves stress levels and boost confidence in all aspects of life. The satisfaction isn’t in the marathon itself, it’s in the training and knowing that you’re prepared when you get there. The rush of achieving a life goal is a satisfaction that only few people have the motivation to accomplish.

“I was standing at the starting line thinking that I am about to run 26.2 miles and I just paid $90 to do it – I just paid $90 to be in the best pain of my life,” says Shortway.

In most college environments, finding the motivation to train for a marathon and staying active is a difficult task. Not so much is true at The College of New Jersey, mainly because it is a rare occasion to visit the campus without finding someone running around the 1.8 mile circumference of the campus, known to students as “the loop.”

Richards finds it hard not have motivation to run and work out at The College of New Jersey. When running on campus she sees so many different people who are running with the same motivations as her. It’s almost like they share something with each other that only runners understand.

“Being around people who care about working out makes you more apt to go out and run,” says Richards.

Richard feels that the ‘runner friendly’ environment at The College of New Jersey makes for an enjoyable training and exercise atmosphere for students. In May 2007, Richards trained for the 10 mile, Blue Cross Broad Street Run in Philadelphia. She finds that at a school with such stressful work schedules and assignments, students need to find their own way to break away from from the classroom.

“I think it’s worth it, running is something I came to value in life – it’s a part of me,” says Richards.

Jenna Meyers, TCNJ senior and certified personal trainer, uses running as her escape from the stressful world of classes and homework. Meyers considers running her “me-time” which she uses to sort thoughts, emotions, and “to-do lists,” while still feeling like she is doing something good for her body.

“Running gives me a sense of accomplishment; it has become a priority in my life- an outlet for emotion- sometimes I do math in my head while I run,” says Meyers.

Meyers feels that running releases the stress and emotional baggage that she may encounter while living a hectic college lifestyle. She also believes that having such an outlet for her emotions, allows her to perform better in the difficult math classes that she has to take.

According to Meyers, maintaining a daily running schedule will help uphold a healthy sleep schedule, which is uncommon, and often difficult to do as a college student. Sustaining a healthy and balanced diet is also a difficult, yet an extremely important task to accomplish in college.

Although Meyers has no interest in training for a marathon herself, she strongly believes that running and having a daily exercise routine will improve confidence, school work, and make for a less stressful frame of mind.

“Running helps me to stick to my daily routine and that helps a lot when you have so much going on in school – it feels good to know that there is some stability among all of the clutter and stress that comes with class and homework,” Meyers says.

Although Meyers runs on average 10 miles a day, she believes, along with other students, that running a marathon is not the only way to escape from stress and anxiety of life.

Anyone with the incentive is able to accomplish it if they are motivated, but many people do not understand how much of a commitment staying on track really is.

With the stressful lives and abundance of work load that students of The College of New Jersey are faced with, Shortway, Richards, and Meyers encourage students to seek their own escape from the hectic college state of mind.