Meet the Loyola alum supporting runners’ mental health at the Chicago Marathon
October 11, 2024
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Coming up on mile 20 is when many marathoners start to struggle.
Maggie Beers knows this firsthand. The 46-year-old West Chicago, Illinois, resident is running the marathon for the eighth time Sunday, and she is ready for when she, as she describes it, hits the wall.
“It’s a mental game a lot of times trying to finish these races,” she says. “I feel right around mile 20, you’re thinking, ‘I only have 6 miles left.’ But it’s the hardest 6 miles. It’s like you hit a wall. Your body is starting to shut down. My calves are tensing up. My body’s shaking. You need nutrients. I would say the last 6 miles are always the worst for me.”
Many things propel her forward toward the finish line in Grant Park: Advil, cream for her shins, seeing her family members cheering.
But she says what she needs most is the mental pep talks: “I mentally keep telling myself I can do this. I’m going to get through this.”
The challenges of running a marathon are as countless as the many who have run one—getting your body prepared to run more miles than you likely have before; carving out the time to train. But the “hitting the wall” that many speak of is just as much of a hurdle.
That’s where Michele Kerulis (BS ’00) comes in.
Kerulis is director of the Chicago Psyching Team, which partners with the Bank of America Chicago Marathon to support the mental health of runners. She’s also a clinical associate professor with the Family Institute at Northwestern University, specializing in counseling and topics like sports, exercise, lifestyle, and wellness.
“Running in general is a very psychological sport,” she says. “When we in any sport utilize sports psychology skills, we just have better instances of success than people who don’t use those skills.”
When I was having a hard time with my own physical limitations, I just thought about how cool it was just to be there with the experience.
— Michele Kerulis (BS ’00), Chicago Psyching Team director and clinical associate professor at Northwestern University
Kerulis brings her own years as a runner to this, knowing a foundation of mental preparedness is vital. Keeping the body running mile after mile requires mental endurance, translating the messages from your brain to a tired body to keep putting one foot in front of the other. It also means facing fears of failure or disappointment or even injury.
The Psyching Team began in 2020. It had just begun planning to help with the marathon when the pandemic began. Then, it pivoted to creating digital resources instead for runners who would be running a very different type of race than they thought.
Not only is marathon a psychological event—even planning out a training regimen, Kerulis notes, is mental, not physical—but she added that research shows runners have better outcomes when they have mental plans and support.
In the years since its launch, the Psyching Team has morphed into a well-developed resource working closely with the medical team; Kerulis herself is a member of the Marathon’s medical committee.
The Psyching Team is there for runners who experience mental setbacks while they’re running the marathon. For example, if an injured marathoner has a panic attack, the runner will go to the medical tent. There, a doctor or nurse may summon the Psyching Team. Kerulis or another volunteer can help calm them down and regulate breathing. A member of the team may sit with the runner until they feel better.
“They might be extremely upset that they’re not going to reach their goal,” she says. “We just sit there with them and share that emotion and validate the fact that it’s perfectly acceptable to feel whatever emotions they’re feeling. If it’s disappointment, it’s okay to feel that disappointment. We’ll sit there with them or walk around with them until they’re feeling emotionally okay. And okay means something different for every individual.”
The team’s workbook promises to help runners “remember their love of the sport as they overcome the challenges that are paired with training, ultimately leading to that amazing feeling of crossing the finish line.”
Running in general is a very psychological sport. When we in any sport utilize sports psychology skills, we just have better instances of success than people who don’t use those skills.
— Michele Kerulis (BS ’00), Chicago Psyching Team director and clinical associate professor at Northwestern University
Kerulis herself loves a half-marathon distance; she has completed several. She also ran the Chicago marathon in 2019. During the Berlin marathon in 2022, she faced her own physical challenge, running with a foot injury. She ran with her doctor’s permission and used Psyching Team tips to manage the disappointment of running with an injury. (Kerulis always recommends runners follow doctors’ advice on whether to keep training or running with any injury.) She focused on controlling what she was able to control.
“When I was having a hard time with my own physical limitations, I just thought about how cool it was just to be there with the experience,” she says. “I let go of the fact that, I’m not going to be fast, I’m not going to be in any place. I’m here and I’m doing this.”
After an injury, runners may have to suffer through the time of both fixing whatever went wrong, allowing rest when they might want nothing more than to continue training, and sitting with the uncertainty of what running will feel like moving forward.
“One of the biggest things is trusting your body after an injury,” she says. “Any sensation in the area can become very scary. It’s learning to trust your body again and trust your medical team that you’re okay to participate.”
Another mental hurdle? Not being too hard on yourself.
“People sometimes feel really bad or guilty if they miss a training run,” she says. “Even if they miss a week or two, they’re still going to be okay. But it’s such a commitment to sticking to a schedule, if they deviate from the schedule just a little bit, a lot of times their anxiety just goes through the roof.”
And on the big day, the Psyching Team shines.
Volunteers begin in the corrals, pens where runners line up before dawn to prepare for the race. Many are preparing—shedding layers, getting their clothing just right, starting playlists, warming up. All their miles and steps and injuries have led to this moment. They give out high fives and encouragement. Along the route, volunteers are posted in two areas closer to the end of the course.
Finally, at the finish line, again, Psyching Team volunteers are witness to the joy and exhalations.
“People are so emotional when they cross the finish line,” she says. “Sometimes they just walk with us and share their story.”
