MIIS Student Finishes in Top Ten Percent at the Big Sur Marathon – His First

April 27, 2010

Tyler Steer (MPA ’11) seems determined to make the most of his time as a student at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, and that includes running in one of the most demanding marathons in the world, the breathtaking Big Sur Marathon. An active social life and demanding studies did not prevent him entirely from training for the big race, although he admits to having only had time to squeeze in one long preparation run two weeks ago. Few would guess that from the great time he achieved in his first-ever marathon of three hours and 40 minutes, which gave him bragging rights for being in 338th place out of 3442 runners.

A positive person by nature, Tyler drew energy from the incredible natural beauty of Big Sur. As he describes it, the “whole experience was perfect,” from the beginning of the race in Pfeiffer State Park when he started running very fast “because the sun was coming up and the running conditions were awesome,” to running along the coastline which felt “so empowering.” There were also musical encouragement in the form of the drummers on the way up Hurricane Point and the piano player at Bixby Bridge, not to mention the cheers of bystanders calling his name. The last mile was a killer, says Tyler, who wasn’t sure he was going to make it until he saw the finish line and thought about his mother and his friends waiting for him.

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