A marathon of teaching has produced more than gray hairs for math teacher Brian Bergeron. Teaching provides a lifeline and a forever feeling of pride. This irreplaceable feeling is well worth a little salt and pepper for Mr. Bergeron as he took to the roads at the Tackle the Trail marathon.
Mr. Bergeron has taught at ELHS for upwards of 25 years, teaching AP Calc, Foundations of Calc, Pre Calc, and Statistics. Outside of the classroom, his life is unexpectedly a completely different story. Mr. Bergeron is an avid runner and just recently completed his second ever marathon.
“I have always wanted to do a marathon, but I’ve just never gotten around to the training,” Mr. Bergeron said. But in early 2022, his daughter Leah began training for a half marathon in Colchester. The morning of the race, looking around all he saw was groggy faces and dread. But Mr. Bergeron was motivated. A spark was lit that day, fueling the fire of what his running journey would become. He went into that race alongside his daughter and completed it with no training. He didn’t stop to walk and recalls hurting pretty bad during the race and in the following week.
“I realized that if I actually trained, I could complete a full marathon, so I set my eyes on that,” Mr. Bergeron said. He began a 12-week program, hitting a few setbacks and then finally completing his first full marathon in 2022. This year, he ran his second ever marathon and placed 7th overall after running through intense rain and mud.
“I checked the weather beforehand and almost backed out,” Mr. Bergeron said. Nevertheless, the bragging rights that come along with being able to say that he’s completed two marathons was well worth the unfortunate conditions. Similarly to teaching, it’s important to stick with your goals and trust the process even when it gets tough. Trusting your training is key to success in all aspects of life.
