thedrifter
10-08-03, 10:55 AM
October 07, 2003
Family honors Marine with marathon attempt
By Lauren Markoe
The (Columbia, S.C.) State
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Had he lived, Marine Capt. Daniel McCollum would have had a third marathon under his belt by now. Because he didn’t, his wife and brother are in the final weeks of training for a race they never planned to run.
In three weeks, Jennifer McCollum and Matthew McCollum will converge on Washington, D.C., from California and Virginia, respectively, to run the 28th annual Marine Corps Marathon in Daniel’s honor.
McCollum, who grew up in Irmo, died on Jan. 9, 2002, when the KC-130 fuel transport plane he was co-piloting crashed into a mountain range near the Shamsi air base in southwest Pakistan.
An investigation found the crew likely became disoriented while circling the airfield. When he died, McCollum was 28. His wife, Jennifer, was 28 and four months pregnant with their child, Daniel Jr.
Brother Matthew McCollum, an Army captain, was 29. For different reasons, neither Jennifer nor Matthew planned to be anywhere near the marathon starting line this year.
Jennifer McCollum describes herself as “no runner.” However, Daniel occasionally would drag her out of their home near the Miramar Marine Air Station in San Diego for a jog, cajoling her at every step. “Just to the stop sign. Just to the corner. You’re doing awesome,” he would say, Jennifer recalled. Daniel would tell his wife that she was a natural athlete, though, to this day, she isn’t sure whether that’s true.
Before Sept. 11, 2001, during her husband’s long Saturday training runs for that year’s Marine Corps Marathon, Jennifer contented herself to watch college football alone. After the terrorist attacks, he stopped his long runs. He knew he would likely be thousands of miles away, at war, when the marathon’s starting gun fired.
Matthew McCollum, a father of two babies who was studying for a master’s degree in physics and preparing for a teaching position at West Point, didn’t have time to train for a marathon this year.
Unlike Jennifer, he had been running all his life and knew exactly what was involved. His earliest running memories date back to his childhood with Daniel. They ran all day long together, often in hopes of tackling each other in the woods behind their house.
The two were known around the neighborhood as “Pete and Repeat.” Matthew ran his first marathon when he was in college. Then Daniel ran one. Then Matthew ran another one. Then Daniel ran another one. When Daniel died, each brother had two 26-mile races to his name.
Last Thanksgiving, Jennifer, who never liked to run, and Matthew, whose days were already too full, went out for a short jog together in Irmo. Jennifer said she was trying to lose some pounds gained in pregnancy. Matthew wanted to keep her company. They set out around the block.
“I’m thinking of running the Marine Corps Marathon,” he told her. “For Dan.”
“That’s funny, she said. “I am, too.”
Runners can’t enter the Marine Corps Marathon just because they want to. There’s a lottery, and for this year’s race, one in four applicants was turned away. This spring, Matthew and Jennifer found out they had winning numbers.
Jennifer bought a baby jogging stroller for Daniel Jr. and began running him around Vista del Lago, their San Diego neighborhood.
On weekend runs, when her distance tops 20 miles, Jennifer has someone stay the previous night so she can rise early and get much of her training done while her son sleeps. Jennifer has lost all her pregnancy pounds. And more. “I’m down to my pre-wedding weight. I am more fit than I’ve ever been in my life,” she said.
Three thousand miles away, in Christianburg, Va., where he lives with his wife, Angel, Matthew McCollum also runs while his children sleep. He has to be in class early, so he dons a reflective vest and races around his neighborhood after Matthew Jr., 2, and John, 10 weeks, go to bed.
Matthew and Jennifer sometimes call each other to compare running logs. They plan to run the 26-mile race at their own paces but as a team, called “This One’s For Daniel.”
They have a tentative uniform: orange shorts. Daniel McCollum — Clemson University class of 1996 — loved Tiger orange. She is also thinking of making herself a T-shirt for the marathon emblazoned with one of the many pet names her husband used to call her. “Crazy.”
There will be a crowd of family and friends at the race — some also running in Daniel McCollum’s honor.
But during the longest, hardest miles of the race, Matthew McCollum thinks it might just be he and his brother. “This is just my own little, private way of remembering Daniel,” he said. “And probably of one-upping him, too.”
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292259-2276633.php
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
Family honors Marine with marathon attempt
By Lauren Markoe
The (Columbia, S.C.) State
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Had he lived, Marine Capt. Daniel McCollum would have had a third marathon under his belt by now. Because he didn’t, his wife and brother are in the final weeks of training for a race they never planned to run.
In three weeks, Jennifer McCollum and Matthew McCollum will converge on Washington, D.C., from California and Virginia, respectively, to run the 28th annual Marine Corps Marathon in Daniel’s honor.
McCollum, who grew up in Irmo, died on Jan. 9, 2002, when the KC-130 fuel transport plane he was co-piloting crashed into a mountain range near the Shamsi air base in southwest Pakistan.
An investigation found the crew likely became disoriented while circling the airfield. When he died, McCollum was 28. His wife, Jennifer, was 28 and four months pregnant with their child, Daniel Jr.
Brother Matthew McCollum, an Army captain, was 29. For different reasons, neither Jennifer nor Matthew planned to be anywhere near the marathon starting line this year.
Jennifer McCollum describes herself as “no runner.” However, Daniel occasionally would drag her out of their home near the Miramar Marine Air Station in San Diego for a jog, cajoling her at every step. “Just to the stop sign. Just to the corner. You’re doing awesome,” he would say, Jennifer recalled. Daniel would tell his wife that she was a natural athlete, though, to this day, she isn’t sure whether that’s true.
Before Sept. 11, 2001, during her husband’s long Saturday training runs for that year’s Marine Corps Marathon, Jennifer contented herself to watch college football alone. After the terrorist attacks, he stopped his long runs. He knew he would likely be thousands of miles away, at war, when the marathon’s starting gun fired.
Matthew McCollum, a father of two babies who was studying for a master’s degree in physics and preparing for a teaching position at West Point, didn’t have time to train for a marathon this year.
Unlike Jennifer, he had been running all his life and knew exactly what was involved. His earliest running memories date back to his childhood with Daniel. They ran all day long together, often in hopes of tackling each other in the woods behind their house.
The two were known around the neighborhood as “Pete and Repeat.” Matthew ran his first marathon when he was in college. Then Daniel ran one. Then Matthew ran another one. Then Daniel ran another one. When Daniel died, each brother had two 26-mile races to his name.
Last Thanksgiving, Jennifer, who never liked to run, and Matthew, whose days were already too full, went out for a short jog together in Irmo. Jennifer said she was trying to lose some pounds gained in pregnancy. Matthew wanted to keep her company. They set out around the block.
“I’m thinking of running the Marine Corps Marathon,” he told her. “For Dan.”
“That’s funny, she said. “I am, too.”
Runners can’t enter the Marine Corps Marathon just because they want to. There’s a lottery, and for this year’s race, one in four applicants was turned away. This spring, Matthew and Jennifer found out they had winning numbers.
Jennifer bought a baby jogging stroller for Daniel Jr. and began running him around Vista del Lago, their San Diego neighborhood.
On weekend runs, when her distance tops 20 miles, Jennifer has someone stay the previous night so she can rise early and get much of her training done while her son sleeps. Jennifer has lost all her pregnancy pounds. And more. “I’m down to my pre-wedding weight. I am more fit than I’ve ever been in my life,” she said.
Three thousand miles away, in Christianburg, Va., where he lives with his wife, Angel, Matthew McCollum also runs while his children sleep. He has to be in class early, so he dons a reflective vest and races around his neighborhood after Matthew Jr., 2, and John, 10 weeks, go to bed.
Matthew and Jennifer sometimes call each other to compare running logs. They plan to run the 26-mile race at their own paces but as a team, called “This One’s For Daniel.”
They have a tentative uniform: orange shorts. Daniel McCollum — Clemson University class of 1996 — loved Tiger orange. She is also thinking of making herself a T-shirt for the marathon emblazoned with one of the many pet names her husband used to call her. “Crazy.”
There will be a crowd of family and friends at the race — some also running in Daniel McCollum’s honor.
But during the longest, hardest miles of the race, Matthew McCollum thinks it might just be he and his brother. “This is just my own little, private way of remembering Daniel,” he said. “And probably of one-upping him, too.”
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292259-2276633.php
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: