Doctors on the Loose
About a year or so ago, a small group of men associated with the Medical School joined the many folks you'll find jogging through the Hanover area at almost any time of the day or night. Two members of the group, John Eisold '68 and Tom Cogbill '74, decided to put a competitive element into their routine. They put together a marathon. No fanfare, just a race that drew more than 30 regulars.
Then last month, Eisold and Cogbill took it a step further. This time, more than 100 runners from assorted corners of New England got together for the second annual Dartmouth Medical School marathon, a race that covered a demanding 26 miles, 385 yards through the Dartmouth campus, north to Lyme, across the Connecticut River, down the Vermont side, and back to the Ledyard Canoe Club.
"When you spend close to 40 hours a week in class and labs, and another four hours every night studying for 42 weeks of the year, you obviously spend a lot of time sitting down," said Eisold, a former Dartmouth lacrosse player who turned to medicine after three years as an officer in the Navy's nuclear submarine fleet.
"There's a gang of us who get out four or five times and average 40-50 miles a week. We've been caught up with running and decided to put together the marathon."
Cogbill was a skier until leg injuries ended his competitive career. He graduated from the College last June, but actually started at the Medical School a year ago. "Running is something we just wanted to do," he said. "It's an opportunity to get away from the routine of studying. There are a lot of joggers around the med school and the hospital."
In addition to the full-scale marathon, which received AAU sanction as a qualifying opportunity for the Boston Marathon, Eisold and Cogbill put together a 13-mile run from Lyme to the canoe club for the veterans and those of lesser endurance. "The course has a few more challenging hills and grades than you'd find in southern New England courses," said Eisold. "I think it may have prompted some of the regulars from other areas to shy away, but hopefully it will catch on and become an annual event."
Tied with the whole thing is an appreciation that Eisold and Cogbill have developed for aerobics, the methods of exercise (running, jogging, swimming, cycling) that stimulate heart and lung activity.
"Running is the only real relaxation we have," said Eisold. "We do it as an outlet, but it also is helpful to study the effects it has on the body. All of this started out as just an inside thing. Now it looks like we have something going."
Rob Singer '76, George Singer '50, andWalter Lashar III '52 cook dinner al fresco on the September DOC AlumniTrip, which drew 60, Classes 'l6 through '76.
