Overseas experience inspired Swampscott’s Paskievich to run Marathon

It wasn’t long ago that Swampscott native Rachael Paskievich was a standout soccer, basketball and softball player for the Big Blue. Now she is entering the final stretch before embarking on a new athletic test ? the Boston Marathon.”It’s a feat that I never thought was possible,” said Paskievich, “but after training I know that just about anyone can do this.”While endurance is a vital attribute in any sport, athletes typically are forced to do several short sprints, as opposed to one constant run. It is one of the first hurdles any athlete has to overcome as they prepare for a marathon.”I have a whole new perspective on running,” said Paskievich. “I would always prefer to sprint. Distance running was sort of a burden to me. Now I think of it as therapeutic and look forward to doing it.”Paskievich’s journey towards the Marathon actually started in a place that is across the Atlantic from Boston ? Spain, the country in which she spent the 2009 fall semester studying abroad as a student from St. Anselm.”One of the best ways to get around (in Spain) is to run,” she said. “I ran so much while I was over there because there were so many places and things to see. I would realize that I just ran 12 miles, which is almost half of a marathon. I would think to myself, ‘Yeah, I can do this.’ As soon as I got home in December I started on a strict regimen.”A major source of her inspiration has come from the fact that she has several friends who have run the Marathon. Her older brother, Barry Paskievich, who was a standout athlete at Swampscott High in his own right, ran it two years ago. He has been a particularly big source of inspiration and she credits him for giving some vital pointers as she trains.”He has told me that the worst thing you can do is stress about it,” she said. “It has an effect on your body which will drain your energy. Running a marathon is extremely psychological. It’s a real test to see how far you can push yourself.”With a little less than a week remaining before it starts, Paskievich is excited to have all of the hard work finally pay off.”The track coach up here (at St. Anselm) has told me that running a marathon is just the celebration of all of your training,” Paskievich said. “Once you start training you can see how attainable it is and it definitely doesn’t feel as much of a big deal as it used to.”