What can marathon running teach us about student success?
Megan Pozzi, Director (Student Enquiry and Advising), University of Southern Queensland
It’s perhaps a little overdone, the idea of students ‘running their own race’, ‘putting one foot in front of the other’ and understanding that ‘it’s a marathon, not a sprint’. An obvious critique of such comparisons is their superficiality and connotations towards ideas of competition and struggle: not necessarily the images of student learning and success those of us working in the space would hope to inspire.
Despite the critiques, the metaphors around students and running persist. As a casual runner and student success practitioner myself, I started to wonder if we had overlooked and misunderstood what running might have to teach us.
Enter Eliud Kipchoge…
Eliud Kipchoge is one of the best marathon runners of all time. Born in Kenya and raised by a single mother, Kipchoge held the world record for the marathon from 2018 to 2023. On October 12, 2019, Kipchoge succeeded in doing what nobody had thought possible: run a sub 2-hour marathon. For those readers who may not be runners, this is insanelyfast.
Running, like student success, is a team sport
To achieve this feat, Kipchoge was supported by a team including physiotherapists, nutritionists, coaches, pacemakers, psychologists and data analysts. This expert team utilised their shared expertise to ensure optimal conditions for Kipchoge were created. Kipchoge could not do it alone.
Similarly, transition pedagogy reminds us that academic and professional staff must work together, bringing to the table their shared expertise to design curriculum, assessment, processes, support and services that deliver inclusive “educational conditions” in which all students are supported to engage in their learning. Joined-up, whole-of-institution and whole-of-student approaches support students to transition in, through and out of university to cross the proverbial ‘finish line’.
There’s a relationship between what the student does and what the institution does
It would have been easy to write Kipchoge off. Raised by a single mother on a farm in rural Kenya, Kipchoge wrote his first training plan on his arm with a stick because he didn’t have a pen. Since then, he has followed a strict training routine and the rest is history. Stories like these remind us that demographics aren’t necessarily determinants.
Agency is important. Students still need to show up, train and run. They must do the work and so must we. It is our responsibility to create the conditions most optimal for students to be active participants in their learning. At this interface, complex political, institutional and individual factors intersect and interact, impacting student engagement and success. From this perspective, we come closer to understanding why some students succeed, and why others don’t, without problematising the students themselves. The opportunity for us is to continue working at this interface alongside students, listening, learning, refining and improving.
Use the data and challenge your assumptions about ‘what works’
In preparing to run a marathon in under 2-hours, Kipchoge’s team considered how to use his pacemakers to reduce as much wind resistance as possible. Initially, the team had the pacemakers arranged, as often seen in nature with birds, in a ‘flying V’ formation. Through analysis and evaluation, Kipchoge’s team of experts learned that a ‘reverse V’ formation had a bigger impact on wind resistance and improved Kipchoge’s speed.
Dickinson, M. (2022). Eric Kiptanui and others pacing Eliud Kipchoge at INEOS 1:59 Challenge [Photograph]. Canadian Running. https://runningmagazine.ca/the-scene/three-runners-who-could-threaten-the-two-hour-marathon-barrier/
In higher education, we are obligated to understand what works, for which students, by how much, in what circumstances, and why. Colleagues in the US are arguably leading in this space, using the available data to boost retention and completion rates and increase participation from typically under-represented and underserved cohorts. Closer to home, critical perspectives on ‘belonging’ invite us to rethink our understanding of concepts considered critical to student success. Who gets to say who belongs? What if I don’t want to belong? What if belonging looks different to me than to you?
Success is personal
At the time Kipchoge ran his sub 2-hour marathon, he was already a world record holder, an Olympic gold medallist and winner of multiple world marathon majors. No doubt, these achievements would be considered ‘success’ by many, including Kipchoge himself. In achieving the sub 2-hour goal, Kipchoge stated that he wanted to be the first person to achieve what others said was impossible and, in doing so, inspire others. Likewise, for students, success might be getting good grades, achieving a certain career or being the first in their family to graduate from university. For others, success is getting through the day with a smile on their face.
If we are to dramatically increase participation and attainment in Australian higher education, we need to do more than pick up the pace and put our running shoes on. We owe it to students to create systems, structures, policies, support, and curriculum that enables them to experience first hand the transformative power of inclusive education.
Megan Pozzi is the Director (Student Enquiry and Advising) at University of Southern Queensland and a very slow half marathon runner.