Running busy is Colburn's status quo

By Jennifer Umaña
Daily Forty-Niner

Mary Colburn is a busy woman.

The Long Beach State cross country team member wakes up at 6 a.m. on weekdays and goes to Lennox Middle School, where she teaches six sixth-grade P.E. classes.

After that she comes to LBSU and practices for a couple of hours and then goes to one of her grad classes. She gets to bed about midnight and then starts the process all over again.

A hectic schedule, perhaps, but Colburn likes it that way.

"I don't like spare time," she said. "It depresses me."

The 21-year-old graduated from high school early, in January 1996 as opposed to June. She received her credential in three and a half years when she graduated from Eastern Michigan University in fall of 1999 with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Physical Education.

She is currently taking nine grad units with the hopes of receiving her Master's degree in pedagogy by next year. She would like to continue teaching and is debating whether or not to go for her doctorate right away.

This is Colburn's first season competing for LBSU cross country. She has placed among the top 10 runners in four meets this season, most recently at the UNLV Invitational in Las Vegas on Oct. 14, where she came in third with a time of 18:57.

Assistant Coach Dana Colligan said she appreciates what Colburn provides the team.

"She brings a lot of enthusiasm and drive to the team and the sport," Colligan Gutierrez said. "She is very motivated. It's hard to find someone in that situation that's able to compete at this level."

Colburn used to exercise a minimum of three hours a day, but with her current time constraints she is only able to exercise for one or two hours. She cannot work out with the team because she is teaching classes when they have practice.

"They all understand what my situation is," she said. "They're all pretty understanding."

Forty-five hours a week, Colburn teaches sixth graders who think it is cool that she runs on the cross country team, but she said that they do not really understand what it means to be a collegiate athlete.

Ninety-nine percent of her students are Mexican and at least half are directly from Mexico. Colburn admits that her Spanish speaking skills are mediocre.
 
"I hadn't spoken Spanish in five years," she said. "It's really easy to get mixed up." A lot of the kids are bilingual, though, which helps.

"Sixth grade is great, most of the time," she said. "Their hormones are raging – but they still have cooties."

So if Colburn's plate is so full, why does she choose too add on more by running competitively?

"It's a passion of mine," she said. "I love to run. I definitely want to do it all my life."

.Caroline Limuti/Daily Forty-Niner

Mary Colburn