Four 2008 Cedar Falls High School graduates took on the most difficult challenge of their lives when they decided together to train for the 2009 Boston Marathon.
Michael Streicher, Daniel and David Sevcik and Tim Scholle were varsity runners for the Tigers, helping the team to qualify for state competition each year. Attending different elementary and junior high schools, the four became much closer when all began running cross country in the 10th grade under Coach Troy Becker’s tutelage.
The Sevcik’s and Streicher first had the idea to complete a marathon in February of 2008. Their first marathon was Grandma’s in Duluth, Minn. They decided to train after high school in January of that year. Coming out of high school soccer and track, they had just four weeks of training. They completed five long runs greater than 15 miles, hoping they were in adequate shape. Daniel and Michael qualified for Boston. David developed cramps and was forced to walk the remainder of the race. He decided he would attempt another marathon, the Des Moines IMT, along with Scholle. 
They trained for 18 weeks. David performed so well he qualified for Boston. In preparation, the runners sat down with Scott Gall, former teacher at Cedar Falls and co-owner of The Runners Flat in downtown Cedar Falls. They trained from January to April 20, 2009, the date of the race.
“The experience was great,” said David. “I can’t think of a part of more than 20 yards where there wasn’t someone standing shoulder to shoulder. That’s a lot of people over the course of 26 miles. By the time of the finish line to five-to-seven miles out, people were standing in rows 10 (deep) in places.” 
“The Boston Marathon is the most incredible marathon in the world so the experience was something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Streicher said. “It’s the largest spectator event in America with 650,000 spectators annually. Experiencing the famous landmarks for myself was unbelievable. Cresting Heartbreak Hill was a great memory, although painful at the time.”
Tim, Daniel and David attend Iowa State University where they started a running club. They participate in meets where they run against Michael, who attends Purdue University. The friends hope to run the Chicago Marathon in 2010, then Boston again in 2011. They planned to run several races this summer around Iowa.
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