The Running Jetsetter: Beau Chambers, A Marine Corps Marathoner

Beau Chambers is not his real name. Beau Chambers is not a ‘long distance runner’. Beau Chambers is not a lot of things; but he is a MARATHONER.

Beau is a hometown boy who grew up in Alexandria, went to TC Williams High School, and still lives in DC. A little over three months ago, a close friend, Chris Nelsen, asked him if he wanted to run a marathon. His answer: a simple, ‘Sure.’

While he’s never run a marathon before, he’s run a few halves and has played in a local soccer league for almost 10 years. He loves to bike, and recently peddled from DC to Pittsburgh on a whim, simply ‘winging it.’

Somehow, Beau makes it all seem simple and easy amidst a very complex and crazy life. He works for American Eagle Airlines as a pilot, and his schedule is constantly changing. Once a month, he gets a new assignment with completely new time frames, but he still manages to run in almost every city he flies to. With 4 days on and 3 days off, you would think he would be too exhausted to even think about lacing up, but on the contrary, he says part of the fun is finding new places to run in every city. Thus far, the best trail he’s found is in Toronto, and his absolute favorite location to run is Key West.

With a mother as an American Airlines flight attendant, he always loved the idea of flight and traveling. He went to Spartan College in Tulsa, Oklahoma for flight school and was a flight instructor in Montgomery, Colorado. When he’s home in DC, he loves to run the Rock Creek Parkway in his trusty Hoka shoes. As he says, ‘They’re like off roading in a 4 wheel drive in running shoes,’ which definitely helps when he’s getting in those 15 mile trail runs.

Training for this marathon, he went from running 15 miles a week to a whopping 45, so he keeps his energy up with a stomach of steel. He’s willing to eat anything before a run, whether that be a chocolate milkshake or some spicy ethnic food. While he is planning on having some traditional lasagna the night before the marathon, he still enjoys the rewarding feeling of eating whatever he pleases after a long run.

Through all of this, he’s had the constant support of his family and friends, including his wife, Deedra. They met during the ‘Snowmagedon’, one of the biggest storms on record in DC, when they got snowed in at a friends house. Six years later, they were married in new New Orleans, and she’s been supporting him every step of the way through his training. He’s also very grateful to all his family and friends who have supported this seemingly insane idea of running 26.2 miles. He’s hoping to reach $1000 before he crosses the start line on Sunday, and we’re so excited to meet him at the finish line to congratulate him. If you’d like to help Beau cross the finish line, check out his fundraising page at http://codeofsupportmcm.causevox.com/robert-chambers and be sure to keep him in mind this Sunday as he embarks upon what may be the first of many marathons!