Running Together, a World Apart

Navy lieutenant Maresa Jurczynski will run in the Marine Corps Marathon in Arlington on Sunday while her sister Carla runs the same race in Iraq. (Jonathan Newton - The Post)

Haas, a psychologist, was on her treadmill in September training for next month's Philadelphia Marathon when Trainer phoned to tell her he had registered for the MCM Forward. Trainer, knowing that his sister is an experienced marathoner, signed up to prove to her that he, too, could complete a marathon.

Haas immediately changed her plans and was granted a late entry into the Marine Corps Marathon. The marathon seemingly erased the miles separating her from her brother and calmed her anxiety about his safety.

"Let's say I'm running somewhere between four and five hours [on Sunday]," Haas said. "I have four or five hours that, in my mind, I'm exclusively with Chuck. It's like, 'Hey, we're doing this together. We made it.' "

To help her novice brother, Haas recently mailed him a care package.

"She said, 'I'm putting in a whole bunch of stuff that runners use,' " Trainer said laughing. "I'm thinking, 'Well, what do runners use? Shorts? Sneakers?' She sent me these runner's socks and these energy gels. But the problem is that the gel exploded in the package.

"I opened it up and reached my hand in there and my hand was slimy and sticky. The socks are not usable and some of the gel is gone, but it's the thought that counts. That's what happens when you send stuff to Iraq."

Trainer and Carla Jurczynski have trained together with a group of about 10 at Camp Fallujah, and they were scheduled to fly in a helicopter last night from Fallujah to the race site.

Carla and Maresa Jurczynski have both previously run the Marine Corps Marathon, so they jumped at the chance to run the same race on opposite sides of the world.

"We're training for the same race, so in our minds we're running it together even though it's not at the exact time and the same exact place," said Maresa, an active duty Navy lieutenant stationed in Annapolis. "We share stories of training and how it's going, tips and motivation. That's definitely a way for us to bond."

Maresa, 26, and Carla, 23, have trained for Sunday using the same regimen that Maresa found in a running magazine. They had a chance to put it to the test together when Carla returned to their home town of Schenectady, N.Y., last month during a short leave.

"It was so great going home and running with Maresa around the area by our house," Carla said. "I had been looking forward to that during all the long, sandy dry runs out here. I was picturing the New York state countryside in the fall and just talking to Maresa the whole way. I'll think of that during the race, for sure."

All four runners plan on somehow acknowledging their counterpart during their races Sunday. Haas plans on writing Trainer's name on her body in marker. Carla Jurczynski will put a "cheesy sign" on her back and wear a pendant Maresa gave her before she left for Iraq in February.

"When I hear it jingle at mile 23, it will be my little incentive to keep pushing."

Afterward, Trainer and Carla Jurczynski will fly back to Camp Fallujah and call home to relay their race stories. Haas and Maresa Jurczynski will be eagerly waiting.

"I believe that without words, he'll feel it," Haas said. "I think sometimes that we don't always need words to communicate, and I have really relied upon that while he's over there."