LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Abigayle Money, a graduate student at the University of Arkansas, went into the Little Rock Marathon not knowing what to expect and just looking to have fun. To her surprise, she outlasted everyone in her gender group and came out on top.
"Honestly, I can barely fathom it," Money said. "Like I can't believe it happened just yesterday. And I can't believe I actually got the opportunity to win out of hundreds of participants."
While winning a marathon is impressive, the training that she put into it may be even more impressive.
"It took me about 18 weeks of training, averaging about 50 miles per week. So that included a couple of speed-oriented workouts per week, along with like two to three easy runs just for recovery purposes, [and] a long run which could range anywhere from 12 to 22 miles," Money said.
Being a graduate student while doing all of that training isn't easy, but luckily for Abigail, she says she has two groups that help her run and manage her time.
"Part of that has to do with structure and accountability," she said. "So actually here at the U of A I am a part of the intramural running club on campus, so that provides a lot of consistency for me. I'm also a part of the Arkansas Track Club. So that's an institution that's not affiliated with the U of A but is working to sort of bridge the gap between collegiate athletes and professional athletes."
Money recently graduated from the College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri where she was a part of the cross country team. But before that, she wasn't allowed to compete in high school because she was home-schooled, so she took matters into her own hands.
"I just kind of ran in local 5Ks on my own and did like a couple of 10Ks, a half marathon, prior to entering college. And in college, I was given the opportunity to compete," she said.
Money finished the marathon in 2 hours, 51 minutes, and 37 seconds— which averages out to be about 6-and-a-half minutes per mile.
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