Running 13.1 miles might not be part of their job descriptions, but that won’t stop three District 204 high school principals from lacing up Sunday for the Healthy Driven Naperville Marathon and Half Marathon.
Metea Valley’s Darrell Echols, Neuqua Valley’s Bob McBride and Waubonsie Valley’s Jason Stipp are running the half marathon course to raise money and awareness for the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation as part of Team IPEF.
“IPEF is a great cause,” said Neuqua Valley principal Bob McBride. “There are so many things the foundation does for our students, and I saw this as an opportunity to raise some funds and shine a light on what they do for us.”
For more than 25 years, the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation has provided support for students and teachers in District 204 through a variety of programs. The three principals join more than 100 athletes running for Team IPEF, who agreed to raise a minimum of $400 each and pound the pavement on race day.
“I think it’s important for my students to know about IPEF, what they do and how they support our schools and enrich their education,” said Waubonsie Valley principal Jason Stipp. “I run quite a bit, so this is a great opportunity to support IPEF and get in a race.”
Stipp ran for Team IPEF last year, which sparked McBride and Echols to join this year’s race.
“We have a lot of camaraderie, and we all decided to do it,” said McBride, who has run both half and full marathons. “Our assistant superintendent (Louis Lee) who we report to is running as well.”
For Echols, who has run shorter races, this will be his first half marathon.
“I am just going to do my best and do my part,” Echols said. “I am probably not going to beat them in terms of time; my goal is to finish without any knee injuries and without any pulled hamstrings.”
Time is a precious commodity for the busy educators, whose work doesn’t end when the final bell rings. To train for the race, and to raise funds, they had to find time to do so.
“Running is my release, and I enjoy getting out there early in the morning,” Stipp said. “I get up early and try to run before my kids get up, and I sneak in runs here and there on the weekends.”
McBride agreed.
“Fitness is my hobby, and like anything, if you want to prioritize fitness, you have to find a time to do it,” McBride said. “I’m at the gym at 5 a.m., so it has been easy to slide right into half marathon training when you already carved out time in each day for some sort of exercise.”
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Echols said he bikes and runs in the early-morning hours, and being active is an important behavior to model for students.
“I am active, and it’s important for students to know that,” Echols said. “You should train the body and the mind at all ages.”
The principals are looking forward to supporting the foundation during the 13.1 mile course Sunday. To date, Team IPEF has raised more than $80,000 as a group.
“Any time you have someone willing to jump in and do this for the sake of the schools, it shows great leadership,” said Kent Duncan, foundation chairman. “These three principals are very committed to our foundation, and this is just another example of the way they jump in to support it.”
Jane Donahue is a freelancer for the Naperville Sun.