Editor’s note: This story is the sixth in a weekly series profiling “Hidden Stars” across campus. A “Hidden Star” is someone who doesn’t normally get recognized but who excels in club sports, intramurals or other recreational activities. The series will run on every Tuesday throughout the semester. If you’d like to nominate someone to be featured as a “Hidden Star,” e-mail that person’s name, phone number, e-mail address and a brief paragraph about why he or she should be recognized to [email protected].

A 22-credit course load and a stress fracture aren’t going to keep Susie Gray from competing in this year’s Chicago Marathon.

The senior speech communication major said she has spent the last three months training for the 26.2-mile race to be held on Oct. 13.

Gray placed in the top 2,000 of 37,500 runners with a time of 3 hours, 46 minutes at last year’s Chicago Marathon.

It was her first attempt at such a lengthy race.

Her performance came despite a recurring stress fracture in her right foot, which she has had for the last two years.

“Last year when I was training, I ran all summer on soft gravel roads at home on my family farm,” Gray said.

“When I came to Ames, I was forced to run on the city pavement, thus the recurrence of my stress fracture. To overcome the pain, I turned to the elliptical machine and aquatic running.”

Currently, Gray said she takes a lengthy run outdoors every Saturday.

She said she spends three days a week cross training – including swimming, biking or rock climbing – and runs on elliptical machines the other three days of the week.

Adapting to her painful foot has been a relatively smooth transition for Gray, a Searsboro native.

In fact, she said running on the elliptical machines instead of in the outdoors allows her to study while she trains.

“I’d rather be out running than on the elliptical,” Gray said.

“However, one good thing is that I study best while in motion, so I get a lot of work done during my hours spent training.”

And it’s helped Gray maintain a 3.22 GPA.

Gray said her goals for this year’s marathon are simple.

She wants to have an injury-free run.

She also hopes to finish below 3:30 – a lofty goal for someone who never thought she’d run a marathon.

“I never had much of a desire to run a marathon until I signed up for Chicago last year,” Gray said.

“I’ve always run, but growing up, I thought middle distance was my max. In track and cross country, I was on the bubble between sprinter and long-distance. I thought marathoners were crazy.”

Gray’s mindset took an about face when she came to Iowa State and was unable to compete on an official team last year, she said.

Gray ran cross country and track in high school and competed for the ISU cross country and track teams as a walk-on for two years.

Gray said she enjoyed the time she spent on the team, and said head coach Dick Lee was a great influence.

However, she said the intense workouts were eventually too much for her foot and back, which she injured her freshman year.

It was the first time Gray was not part of a team, and it motivated her to get involved again on her own.

“I think I first developed the desire to start running marathons when I was not a part of an organized team,” Gray said.

“Now, I realize I need goals to keep me training and marathons are substantial enough to do that.”

Gray said some of her friends think she’s crazy for trying to run so far.

That includes her roommate Jessica Lohry.

“I think all [marathon runners] are crazy, but she loves it,” Lohry said.

However, Gray said her friends also admire her strong will and determination.

“Many of them do, but they also know running is my gift from God, just as I know their gifts,” Gray said.

“They acknowledge my determination to run so far, not as craziness but as experiencing life through putting to good use my God-given talent.”

Lohry said Gray has several good qualities besides her running ability.

“She’s extremely nice, she’s a great cook and she’s very adventurous,” Lohry said.

“She’ll do anything under the sun. She’s one of those people that’s never in a bad mood.”

With her busy schedule, Gray still finds time to relax on the weekends.

She uses the chance to relax as incentive to work hard during the week.

Gray said people often ask her how she keeps running for so long.

She said it takes the proper perspective and a good imagination to run marathon.

If you’re able to forget about the actual length of the race “miles will fly by like 100-meter dashes,” she said.

Gray said she likes to ride horses and often thinks about them on her long runs.

“A good imagination is helpful around about mile 24 when the pains really begin,” Gray said.

She also said she thinks about the action going around her, which makes the time pass faster than it normally would.

Gray said her next goal is competing in the Ironman competition, a triathlon involving swimming, biking and running.

“I took a triathlon training class this summer and participated in the Iowa Games triathlon,” Gray said.

“I had so much fun with both that I would like to do more triathlons. The ultimate in triathlon is the Ironman, so I figure I might as well try for it.”