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Monday, May 01, 2000 By Lori Shontz, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
Ever since he watched his dad run marathons, John Maier wanted to try one himself. This year, he finally will get the chance to run the UPMC Health System/City of Pittsburgh Marathon.
Maier and his wife, Robin, share a residency in family medicine at Shadyside Hospital. He worked last year while she stayed home with their two children, and she's working this year while he stays home.
"I have time to train," said Maier, 32, who lives in Point Breeze.
He finished his first year of residency in December and decided the next month to focus on the marathon.
"It wasn't very hard -- it just took time," he said. "That was the key thing. Three days a week an hour a day, and then on the weekend one day for three or four hours. That's a big chunk of time for busy people. But if you go slowly, it's not much of a problem -- you trundle along and then you're going, `Wow, I can't believe I ran that far.' "
Maier has run 15 or 20 miles a week since high school.
"I've got torn ligaments in both my knees," he said. "They don't have a lot of stability, so playing things like football and basketball and soccer are very difficult."
Maier thinks he tore both of his anterior cruciate ligaments when he was a high school wrestler, before surgery to repair ACLs became common. He has no interest in having his knees surgically repaired, and he doesn't think it matters: "It's not limiting me that much."
Far harder has been squeezing in his runs around his wife's schedule so someone is home with their two sons, ages 3 1/2 and 1 1/2. Getting the chance to run another marathon likely will get harder for Maier the next few years, as he and his wife will trade off the residency in three-month intervals.
That way, both will finish their residency in six years.
Even though he's not spending time at the hospital, Maier isn't far from his profession. Several fellow residents are running the marathon, including the program's director.
"I think there's a thing about that," he said, laughing. "Some component of self-destructive behavior of people who go into medicine and also run marathons."
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