St. Thomas senior Bryce Pacourek, 21, smiles while holding her medal outside of the Minnesota State Capitol after running her first Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Oct. 4. Pacourek ran a 3:32:20, beating her initial goal by eight minutes. (photo courtesy of Bryce Pacourek) 
Pacourek runs alongside other marathoners 30 minutes after the start of the Twin Cities Marathon. Her 7:50 starting pace propelled her through 26.2 miles, weaving through the scenic Minneapolis route toward St. Paul. (photo courtesy of Bryce Pacourek)
Senior Bryce Pacourek has been a long-distance runner since middle school, running endless laps around the track and through many courses as a cross country runner at St. Thomas and in her hometown of Chicago.
But after 11 years of cross country — three as a D-I athlete — Pacourek wanted to go the distance: 26.2 miles in her first Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, to be exact.
“I have watched the marathon the last three years, especially as a St. Thomas student,” Pacourek said. “I just remember thinking, ‘Wow, I want to do what they do.’”
Pacourek grew up around marathon culture, volunteering at the Chicago Marathon with her high school cross country team and watching her parents run marathons. But Pacourek said she chose to run this marathon to “fall back in love with running.”
Amid training, Pacourek balanced an extensive list of extracurriculars, including being president of Tommie Outdoors, member coordinator of Rock Climbing Club, a teaching assistant for biomechanics, a student worker in the sports science department and a member of the club ultimate frisbee team. However, trying to balance her training, classes and activities was no easy feat, and it sometimes left Pacourek tripping over her feet.
“It definitely takes a lot of planning ahead and thinking about when you’re gonna do it and stretching your week around a little,” Pacourek said. “Fridays became my go-to day, and I had a 9:35 (class). Notably, I did a 22-miler, and we started at like 5 a.m. Then I just showed up to my 9:35 and just went on with my day.”
When race day came on the morning of Oct. 4, she ran alongside many other St. Thomas students, which she said was “really special.”
Pacourek wanted to start the race slow but held a 7:50 pace for the first 22 miles, able to comfortably see “both cities, multiple lakes, the riverfront and Summit (Avenue).”
The mild terrain along Minneapolis’ lakes and the Mississippi River quickly changes during miles 20-21, where runners climb toward Summit Avenue as fatigue sets in.
“Mile 21 to 25 was really hard. My longest run was 22 (miles), so this was just a distance I hadn’t run before. I think I’d gone out a little faster than I expected to, so I didn’t realize it was going to hit me quite as hard,” Pacourek said.
As Pacourek neared St. Thomas at mile 21, she knew she had supporters, like one of her roommates, senior Natalie Seng, waiting to cheer her on.
“I’ve run up Summit 100 times probably; I know what I have left — I have all these people supporting me, so I knew I could push through,” Pacourek said.
Seng, alongside Pacourek’s other roommates, joined the line of spectators at Cleveland Avenue, holding signs and cheering on the runners. Seng and her group followed Pacourek through some of the most physically challenging parts of the race.
“It was really fun stalking her location, strategically planning out where we should go next and cheering her on from there,” Seng said. “We were wearing (traffic) cone costumes … it was silly, but it was just really fun.”
Seng said that running “has been a big part of our friendship.” The two ran a half marathon together while they studied abroad in Madrid, and Seng ran with Pacourek throughout her training.
“It’s a lot to train for a marathon, regardless, but it’s especially a lot when you’re balancing school and a job and other activities as well,” Seng said.
Pacourek finished her race outside of the Minnesota State Capitol building about eight minutes quicker than her goal, running a 3:32:20 with about an eight-minute average pace.
This is not the first — or the last –– extreme race Pacourek has run. This past summer, she took on a Spartan trifecta: running a 5K, 10K and half marathon while tackling obstacles in the mountains of Utah.
“I actually did that and then signed up that night for the marathon,” Pacourek said. “I was like, ‘Wow! I love this type of race, I love this community — I need to do more races like this.’”
Next on the list for Pacourek: a 100-mile ultramarathon.
“I feel like (the marathon is) going to be a gateway into a lot of other future long-distance events,” Pacourek said. “It was an awesome race, and I probably could not have done it without all the support.”
Grace Woelfel can be reached at woel8456@stthomas.edu.
