Georgetown Runner Preps for NYC Marathon

Georgetown resident Trevor Lyman may be a little nervous about running his first-ever marathon in New York City next month, but that didn't keep him from opening up about his training regimen, his fundraising efforts and plans for a post-run vacation celebration with Patch.

Patch: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.

Trevor: Born and raised in Birmingham, Michigan, I was recruited to play D-1 soccer at Temple University in Philadelphia where I double majored in International Business and Marketing. Met my girlfriend Kirsten at Temple (we’ve been dating for 4 years).

She had her Senior Internship at Destination D.C. (Washington, D.C.’s official tourism and convention company) last summer and was offered a position in August 2010.

I started a company in Philadelphia called CrackedMacScreen.com. We’re a same-day local Apple laptop, iPhone, iPad and iPod screen repair company. Seeing Kirsten’s opportunity to work in D.C. and my ability to move my company wherever I want (and a huge untapped market in D.C.), we made the move. Kirsten is doing awesome at Destination D.C. and CrackedMacScreen is D.C.’s only Apple-Certified repair company.

We lucked upon Gateway Georgetown and it turned out to be perfect for us. Kirsten is two Metro stops from work (their office is in Chinatown) and my proximity to Northwest D.C. has allowed my business to flourish. I have performed repairs for people at the Pentagon, at all of the offices on Capitol Hill, and even for one of the highest-ranking members of Hillary Clinton’s staff. 

Kirsten is 23 and I’m 25.

Patch: How did you qualify to run the NYC marathon?

Trevor: My Uncle Craig (Craig Brown) is the principle owner of the Class-A Boston Red Sox affiliate team the Greenville Drive. He’s run multiple marathons and wanted to run the NYC ING Marathon with the “runners” in the family. Notice how runners has quotations around it - Our team motto is “Start slow and taper off”.

Because a bunch of us haven’t run before, we had to qualify through a charitable organization.  We chose to run for Team For Kids.

Team for Kids is a team of volunteers who raise funds for critical services provided by New York Road Runners Youth Programs. These programs combat childhood obesity and empower youth development via running and character-building programs in low-income schools and community centers in New York City, throughout the country, and in South Africa.

Patch: How are you preparing for such a huge challenge?

Trevor: We’ve been pretty regular with the email updates between the 12 runners in our group, which helps considering we’re all spread around the country (cousin in LA, brother in Nashville who also runs a CrackedMacScreen branch, cousin in NYC, Uncle in Greenville).

Team for Kids provided a pretty basic running calendar that has been great for me. You simply run the amount of miles that is on the calendar for that day. For a first-time marathon runner like me, it was nice to have something that I can follow.

Running my small business has enabled me to move my schedule around to fit in the long runs, but I’ve also incorporated my runs into marketing and promotion efforts. I’ve literally run across the city for an iPhone repair, I’ve jogged to GW and Georgetown to put up flyers to promote CrackedMacScreen.

Patch: Are you nervous about such a long run?

Trevor: I’m nervous because I don’t know what to expect. Running with thousands of people will be exhilarating and I’m definitely excited for the adrenaline rush. I have no idea how I’ll do as far as my time, but I think that the goal for my first marathon should just be to finish.

Patch: Do you run in Georgetown and, if so, is the neighborhood runner-friendly?

Trevor: Georgetown (and D.C. proper) has been fantastic for training. I start my runs in Georgetown down by the waterfront and usually run past the JFK center and up Independence Avenue to the Capitol.

I’ve found that running (both in training and running my business) has been the best way to discover either a new city or a city that you’ve lived in your whole life. I’ve discovered stores and restaurants that I’ve gone back to after my run. On my more boring runs, sometimes I’ll just wind through the side streets of Georgetown to find a good restaurant to take my girlfriend to that night.

And what’s so great about Georgetown (and D.C.) is that EVERYONE is a runner. Whether it’s early in the morning, the middle of the day or late at night, there are always runners out. It definitely motivates you on the days when you just don’t want to run.

Patch: What organization have you chosen to raise money for and why did you choose that particular group?

Trevor: We chose Team For Kids because all of the $2,850 that we had to raise (individually) goes to children’s programs throughout the US and world.

Team for Kids is a team of volunteers who raise funds for critical services provided by New York Road Runners Youth Programs. These programs combat childhood obesity and empower youth development via running and character-building programs in low-income schools and community centers in New York City, throughout the country, and in South Africa.

Patch: How can interested Patch readers donate to your cause?

Trevor: Interested readers can visit my Team For Kids profile site that I’ve setup. In order to make it easier to find, I created a site that will forward you where you need to go. It’s TrevorMarathon.com

I only need $345 to reach my goal! It’s all handled on their site and it’s tax deductible.

Patch: How do you plan to celebrate in NYC after the big run?

Trevor: I won’t have much time to celebrate in NYC after the marathon since my bus leaves to come back to D.C. at 7 p.m., but my girlfriend and I are taking a long overdue vacation to Vegas for the three days after the marathon run.