25 Feb 2013
Staff Writer
Olivia Sylvain / Intern
Under the training and guidance of Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine freshman Heinz Schwarzkopf, 29 UNT Health Science students competed in the Cotown Marathon in Fort Worth last weekend.
Schwarzkopf began training runners through UNT Health Science Center’s Founders Activity Center. He is a personal trainer at the FAC and was a former cross country and track runner at the University of Texas at Arlington.
“I trained someone for a marathon last semester and I started getting request from other people,” Schwarzkopf said. “I asked my boss if I could start up a group and over thirty people wanted to join.”
This was the 35th year of the Cowtown Marathon. Participants had the opportunity to run a marathon, half marathon, ultra marathon, 10k or 5k.
The event was held at the Will Rogers Memorial Center and was sponsored in part by the UNT Health Science Center. The Cowtown Marathon is a nonprofit organization that works to promote health and fitness in the community.
The group began training in January and each individual was required to run on a schedule leading up to the marathon. Schwarzkopf says 15 people were fully committed to training on a daily basis. He competed last weekend and placed second overall in the marathon.
HSC medical student Lauren Kjolhede decided to run this year after tearing her ACL and having five knee surgeries. She said she is an experienced runner and soccer player who was determined to run despite her injury.
“Building up my knee strength and proving that I could run was important to me,” Kjolhede said, “Heinz was a great coach. He was very encouraging.”
Kjolhede joined the group of runners in late December with hopes to run a 10K and get sponsorship through myreasontorace.org. The website allowed people to donate money toward her mission trip to El Salvador in July. Kjolhede has already received more than $1,000.
Sophomore kinesiology major Diane Hadden has run in several events in the past year.
Hadden is a personal trainer and now in the Navy reserve after serving eight years as a Navy aircraft mechanic. She didn’t formally train for the recent race, but she ran in an event last month.
“I wouldn’t consider myself experienced, I just love running,” Hadden said, “It’s a great stress reliever.”
Schwarzkopf encourages people who are interested in running to get out and actually run.
“They should get some information to keep them healthy,” Schwarzkopf said. “There is lots of literature out there. They just need to go out there, find a trainer and get started.”
