McBride Has Eye On Elusive Marathon Race: Teacher Builds Strength While Sliming Down At The YMCA

By Doug Carder

Another Kansas City Marathon will come and go this weekend without Kristen McBride at the starting line.

But the Level I teacher at Trojan Elementary School is not going to let a nagging knee injury cloud her dream of running the ultimate race.

“I’m going to be there next year, even if I have to crawl across the finish line,” McBride says Monday.

McBride injured her knee in the 18th mile of a workout in July. Her doctor recently gave her the go-ahead to start running again, but she’s no longer in top form after the long layoff.

“I’m itching to get out there again,” McBride says.

McBride had planned to run in the marathon last year, but she suffered the same knee injury in August 2009 – also in the 18th mile of a long run.

“There’s a curse on the 18th mile,” says McBride, laughing.

Her running partner, dad Steve McBride, tore a calf muscle during training this summer, too.

On a friendlier day for the McBrides last April, the father-daughter team could be seen crossing the finish line together of the 5K Running the Rails for a Reason race in Osawatomie.

And Kristen is planning to run in a half marathon in Louisburg next May in preparation for the 2011 KC Marathon.

“I decided to run (the marathon) because my grandmother told me I couldn’t do it,” McBride says.

McBride, a 2006 graduate of Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., has been teaching in Osawatomie for two years. She began working out at the Miami County Family YMCA a little more than a year ago and credits workouts there with starting her on the path to a healthier lifestyle.

“I’ve lost 120 pounds,” says McBride, who will turn 27 on Nov. 27. “I have a personal trainer, and my goal is to do a pull-up by myself on my birthday. I’ve never done a pull-up before.”

Running has provided another outlet for McBride – it sparked her business creativity. She launched a cupcake business last May called Cupcake Queen.

“I was running without my iPod, and these kind of things pop into my head,” McBride says.

Her business has taken off and continues to grow, like a marathon runner building stamina for the 26-mile journey.

“I have three or four orders a week now,” McBride says. “Each order is for at least two dozen.”

McBride’s favorite is mocha chip, though she doesn’t have to worry about cupcakes spoiling her physical conditioning.

“I don’t like cupcakes, but I enjoy making them,” she confesses.

McBride plans to stride onto the runner’s path in the coming days, waiting for the chance to compete in her marathon.

“The weather is cooling off,” she says, “it’s a great time to go running.”

Short URL: http://osawatominews.com/?p=421

Posted by Doug on Oct 13 2010. Filed under News and Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry