With fellow Clinton School students cheering him on, second year Clinton School student, Chet Howland (’14), finished the Little Rock Marathon in just under three hours, posting an official time of 2:59:44. His race time placed him as the second Arkansan to cross the finish line and the 28th to finish overall.
After extreme weather conditions threatened the safety of participants and spectators on Sunday, race officials rushed to reroute the 12th annual Little Rock Marathon shortly after the start. However, despite the bad weather, Chet was determined. “I was worried the weather might ruin things,” Chet said. “But I’ve been training for this race, specifically, for a year and a half and overcast and raining is perfect for marathoners.”
During the year and a half leading up to the race, Chet had to continue his training through his time working on his International Public Service Project (IPSP) with the Clinton School in Cartagena, Colombia. He spent his IPSP developing and conducting a program evaluation for El Habitante, a sustainable tourism initiative. Regardless of his new climate, the training had to continue and he had to accommodate to his new surroundings. “I don’t miss diving in and out of Colombian traffic during 120 degree days one bit,” Chet said. “But I’m thankful for the mental toughness it provided.”
Chet says he chose running because he was too uncoordinated to do anything else in high school. “I had the option to do track or join the debate team,” Chet said. “I chose the former.”
Uncoordinated or not, Chet posted a very impressive time, reaching the gold standard for semi-competitive marathoners by finishing under three hours. As a frequent runner even when he’s not training, Chet runs about 4-5 times a week to stay well-balanced. “It keeps me sane when the rest of my life feels like it’s out of control,” Chet said. “But I’m also hyper-competitive, so it’s an odd mixture of serenity and desire to do well.”
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