Pastor to run marathon in Hawaii

When Paul Short boards an airplane for Honolulu on Dec. 7, thoughts of walking along the sandy beaches or taking a swim in the warm Pacific waters won't be on his mind.

The 58-year-old father of three and senior pastor at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau will be thinking about the 26.2-mile race he will take part in on Dec. 9 -- a distance equivalent to running from downtown Cape Girardeau to Oak Ridge High School.

Short is one of five people from Southeast Missouri who will take part in the Joints in Motion Marathon in Hawaii benefiting the Arthritis Foundation.

Marilyn Duncan, director of the Southeast Missouri branch of the Arthritis Foundation, said the main reason the runners will participate in the marathon is to raise money and awareness for the foundation and its cause.

100 forms of arthritis

She said 43 million Americans suffer from one of 100 different forms of arthritis and of those people, 1.5 million are from Missouri.

Participants will run either in memory of, or in honor of, someone they know who has been affected by the disease.

Short will run in honor of Bessie Nagel, an 87-year-old member of his congregation who has had rheumatoid arthritis since she was 10.

"I think it's wonderful that he is taking his time to try to do this," Nagel said.

The money raised by Short and the other runners will go toward research and finding a cure for the disease.

"If he can use his time, energy and strength to try to help the kids so they don't have to go through what I have," she said, "I think it's great."

Short has never taken part in a marathon and has only competed in one race in his life. Earlier this year he participated in a 5K run, where he placed second in his age bracket, and since then he has been training every day for the marathon.

Coached by Bill Logan, Short and the other runners have been on a strict workout plan that includes running for about one hour, three days a week and for about 2 1/2 hours on Saturdays.

Logan said none of runners are professional runners or marathoners, but that they are all doing very well.

"They're not worried about their times," he said. "They're more concerned with just finishing the race."

Short said professional marathon runners will likely finish in about two hours and average runners will finish in between three and four hours. He expects to finish in five or six hours.

Two other local runners will leave Saturday to compete in a similar marathon in Dublin, Ireland, on Monday.

hkronmueller@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 128