West Chester man set to film his attempt to qualify for marathon
By Samuel Narisi (Staff Writer)
Some people may wonder where Mike Zolomij gets all his energy. As a father of four children under the age of 5, he certainly has enough to keep him busy. But in addition to parenting and working full-time, he is also pursuing the difficult goal of qualifying to run in the 2007 Boston Marathon, motivated by a passion for running and a desire to succeed.
"I'm a big believer in goals," said Zolomij, who lives in West Chester with his wife, Carol, and their children. "If you don't have goals, you're not living."
Zolomij, a professional videographer, is also involved in making a documentary chronicling his efforts. The film is titled "3:15", after the minimum time he must run in a marathon before Boston to qualify, and will tell the story of Zolomij's intense training and the effect it has on his roles as a husband and father.
"It's not all about the training," said Mike Kazin, one of the film's production assistants. "It's about the training, and the life and trying to bring everything together."
The film will be built around interviews, shots of Zolomij talking with his wife and playing with his kids, as well as footage of him training. Much of the filming done so far has included shots of him running through West Chester and the surrounding area. One spot in particular where Zolomij trains often is the ironically named Skelp Level Road, which runs through hills he can only describe as "brutal".
"I love it," he said. "I'm a freak."
Zolomij has always run to train for different sports, but did't really get into running for it's own sake until a few years ago, when he ran to lose weight and fell in love with it. He ran his first marathon in the summer of 2004, and first started thinking about Boston about a year later, after he stumbled upon the Boston Athletic's Web site. Zolomij, who is 38, saw that the qualifying time for his males age 35 to 40 was 3:15 - a full 36 minutes lower than his personal record at the time - and knew what his next running goal would be.
"Part of me was like, 'That's the craziest thing I've ever heard," he said. "The other part of me was like, 'That's the craziest thing I've ever heard - I've got to try that."
So now, Zolomij trains six days a week, alternating between days of running and days of weight training. Each week he runs anywhere from 25 to 50 miles. With such a busy household to look after, it can be difficult to find the time to keep up with everything.
"It's always hard," Zolomij said. "Somebody's got to watch the kids."
He often wakes up at 4am so that he can run and be back in time to watch his children when they wake up, so that his wife can sleep in a little more. And when he can't do that, she is willing to sacrifice some of her time to keep an eye on things around the house.
"Carol and I are a great team," he said. "I wouldnn't be able to do it if I didn't have her."
Though she is busy with her own goal of earning a doctorate in psychology, she does what she can to help her husband, and wants to see him succeed. In fact, she was the first to suggest to Zolomij that he make a documentary about the effort.
"The cool thing about Mike is that he's an extremely hard-working person," Carol Zolomij said. "When he puts his mid to something, he follows through, with anything from fixing a light to running a marathon. If I didn't think he could do it, I would never have made the suggestion."
Carol Zolomij's support was particularly helpful last winter when Zolomij over-trained and developed a knee injury that kept him from running for three weeks, which is a major set back in a strenuous training program.
"That was the only point where he just questioned whether or not it was all worth it, and that was the time for me to step in and play the supportive role," Carol said. "Mike's done the same for me numerous times with my school work."
As that injury shows, on any given day, anything can happen to a runner that will put him or her out of commission and take away precious training time. Nonetheless, Zolomij is confident in his abilities as a runner and doesn't plan on letting down anyone who wants to see him reach his goal.
"Too many people have sacrificed too much for me not to do this," he said. "In my mind it's going to happen."
Despite this assurance, though, part of what makes Zolomij's story compelling is that even he doesn't know for sure how it will end.
"When you're doing a documentary, that's part of the fun," he said. "You have to be open to the whole picture to see where the story's going. You have to let the story happen in front of you."
The story will conclude in October when Zolomij runs in the Chicago Marathon, which he must finish in 3:15 in order to qualify for Boston. Once filming is finished and the editing is done, Zolomij and the crew hope to show it at film festivals. Now matter how "3:15" ends, Zolomij hopes that it will inspire the audience to pursue their own goals, whether it's running, or walking or learning to paint.
"I don't want the viewer to see it and feel like they've just run a marathon," he said. "I want them to feel motivated."
More information about the film can be found at www.threefifteenthemovie.com
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