UMF Public Classroom series features “The Psychology of Marathon Training”

Starts: 7:00 PM

Location: Lincoln Auditorium, Roberts Learning Center UMF

A long-distance running event of slightly more than 26 miles, marathons are held around the globe, testing the physical, mental and emotional endurance of each participant. While long-distance running can improve a person’s cardiovascular health and overall physical fitness, such as helping to control weight and blood pressure, it can also produce a holistic transformation changing participants’ self-image and life goals.

In this talk, Steven Quackenbush, professor of psychology, and Lilyana Ortega, assistant professor of psychology, will discuss the factors that contribute to a runner’s success and explore the research that shows the sport’s link to psychological well-being. Attendees will be encouraged to share their running experiences and how they had a positive effect on their lives.

“Marathon training affects every aspect of a person’s life from nutrition and injury prevention to how an individual looks at themselves and interacts with the running community,” said Quackenbush. “It isn’t a quick fix, but a personal learning experience that can have a long-reaching positive impact.”

As a UMF faculty member, Quackenbush has taught a broad range of psychology courses. His scholarly interests and areas of expertise include aging, the history of psychology and narrative approaches to the study of lifespan personality development. Of his various accomplishments, he is especially proud of his long track record of involving undergraduate students in original research. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Quackenbush completed his Ph.D. in social-personality psychology at Kansas State University.

Ortega is passionate about instruction, research, practice and the interaction of all three. Her expertise includes child and adolescent development, clinical and counseling psychology and educational psychology. Her recent research has focused on evaluating intervention and prevention programs for at-risk youth. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“The Public Classroom” series is sponsored by the UMF Office of the President. Lectures in this series are free and open to the public.