Students taking physical or quantitative chemistry know there’s a chemistry stockroom in building three and someone at the window eager to help. What they don’t know is that the person who helps prepare their labs and provides them with supplies is a marathon runner.
Meet Desiree Tax, Instructional Support Technician III in the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry who also happens to be a marathon runner. Marathons are 26.2 miles and take three to six hours to complete. They require incredible stamina built up over time through training. To prepare, Tax runs about twice a week after work and trains with a running club on weekends.
Her love for running began as an undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz where she studied chemistry. Her college friends were runners who talked her into doing a 5K run in San Francisco (where Tax earned her master’s in chemistry). “There were a lot of hills in San Francisco. It was hard. It was awhile before I let them talk me into doing another run,” said Tax.
Eventually she tried a half marathon which is 13 miles. “I didn’t know how to train. I just ran as far as I could each week. I ran the half marathon then I met some veteran runners in a boot camp class I was taking and they taught me how to train, and how to pace myself. It motivated me to hear their stories and accomplishments,” she shared.
After joining CPP she met a student worker who convinced her to do a spartan race. It included climbing rope, and running in the mud, and it inspired Tax to set a personal goal of running one 5K each month. Then she set her sights on a full marathon.
There are several ways to qualify for a major marathon; one is to have a fast time, another is to win a lottery, some charities offer opportunities for runners who will fundraise, and some travel tour packages include a marathon. Tax applied for the Chicago Marathon lottery and won a slot in the 2019 Chicago Marathon. Every Saturday she trained with her run club. “There was a lot of doubt. I wondered if I could really do 26 miles,” she said. The oldest person in the club was 80 and told her, “All you have to do is put one foot in front of another. The biggest obstacle is your mind.”
Tax completed the Chicago Marathon and followed it up with one in Japan and one in London. In Japan, the water stations for runners ran out of water and they hadn’t allowed runners to bring their own. Like many of the runners that day, dehydration, heat and humidity took its toll and she decided to stop after 13 miles.
The London Marathon was a better experience. The crowds cheered enthusiastically, the course included sights like Big Ben, there was plenty of water and shower stations. “They’re like family vacations, and I appreciate that my husband and son support me,” she said.
Tax has run the Huntington Beach Half Marathon 5 consecutive years and is now in training for the November 1 New York Marathon. She will be raising funds for the charity Every Mother Counts which is dedicated to decreasing maternal mortality. Their mission is “to ensure that the maternal health journey before, during, and after childbirth is safe, respectful, and equitable for everyone, everywhere.”
If you’d like to support Desiree Tax’s running the NY Marathon to raise funds for Every Mother Counts visit: https://give.everymothercounts.org/fundraiser/7119097
