Jennifer Jabson, doctoral student in public health at Oregon State University, completed an Ironman event in Madison, Wisc., in September 2007. She said the event helped center her. (photo: Theresa Hogue)

“I’d cry, I was just so inspired,” she said.

Jabson, a doctoral candidate in public health at OSU, was fascinated by the endurance and athleticism demonstrated by the competitors, but it never occurred to her that she’d one day be taking part in such an event. In high school in Bend, she was into choir and speech rather than sports, and struggled with asthma.

But in 1999, after returning to college as a non-traditional student, with her asthma under control and a new healthy attitude about life, Jabson started thinking about marathons, and decided she’d try to participate in one, just to try it out. So in 2001, she walked in the Portland marathon and decided she liked the atmosphere of big group competitions.

“It’s fun to be in that energy,” she said.

After several years running marathons, when a friend mentioned they were thinking about participating in the Ironman competition in Madison, Wisc., Jabson decided that it would be an exciting challenge. But she didn’t really know what she was in for.

“I didn’t have a bike, never had a swimming lesson,” Jabson said with a laugh, but it never occurred to her to be intimidated by the biking and swimming portions of the competition. Participants must register a year ahead of the competition, and the entry fee is quite high, but in September 2007 she had her $575 ready to go. Once she was registered though, the reality sunk in.

“I thought, ‘What have I done?’”

So Jabson bought a Trek bike, took swimming lessons at the YMCA, and started training. Which for the Iron Man, meant she was riding 100 miles on the weekends, spending three nights a week swimming and running whenever she could. This was in addition to teaching, taking classes for her PhD and preparing her dissertation proposal.

The entire time, she was wondering if she could truly participate in an Iron Man competition, but she was determined to go, even though it seemed an impossible goal.

“I’m peasant stock,” she said. “I’ve got some meat on these bones. I am not the vision of an endurance athlete.”

Jabson celebrates her success during the race, which included a two-and-a-half hour swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile marathon.

She was so proud of sticking to her physically grueling training schedule that it really felt possible she’d survive Iron Man, but once she arrived in Madison in September 2008, she began to have doubts.

“I had this myth that Wisconsin was flat,” she said. Then she saw the course she’d be running and riding. That’s when she says she went into denial about what was ahead, and decided to just go for it.

The crowd gathered on the morning of the event to watch the swimming competition overwhelmed Jabson.

“It was a really powerful experience as a non-athlete,” she said, as she climbed into the water along with 2,500 other participants.
“There were people with signs and ringing cowbells, taking pictures, it was very magical,” she said.

Jabson had a moment of doubt when she was in the water, but then the gun went off to mark the start of the race, and she just went.
That was the theme of the day for Jabson, just going forward and trying not to think of how much she had ahead of her.
The first task was two and a half miles of swimming, which she completed in an hour and 27 minutes, a record for her. When she got out of the water, volunteers stripped off her wet suit (she had a bathing suit underneath) and she ran back to the starting point to get into her biking clothes and jump on her bike for the second leg.

The 112-mile bike ride through the countryside was intense, with thunderstorms and big hills and the occasional equipment malfunction, like when her bike chain fell off at one point. A spectator ran out to help her put the chain back on, and then pushed her up the hill to give her a jump start.

“People were so supportive,” she said. It was that kind of attitude from the crowd that kept her going despite pain and fatigue.

At the end of the biking portion, her mother was waiting to see her, astonished that her daughter was participating in such a grueling race. The sight helped propel Jabson toward the last leg of the race, the 26.2 mile marathon.

“All I could think was ‘I love my mom!’” she said.

She was at the back of the pack when she started the running portion.“For me, it was plodding,” but she knew she had a full seven hours to complete the race, so she took her time and focused on simply finishing.

It was then that Jabson realized that she was thinking about nothing other than the present. As a doctoral student, she said her brain is usually focused into the future.

“I wasn’t thinking about my dissertation, or the finish line. I was in the moment,” she said. It was a transformative experience. She knew she couldn’t complete the course without taking it moment by moment.

“It was step by step,” she said. “Which is a profound metaphor for life.”

A little after 11 p.m., after hours of running in the dark, Jabson saw a glow in the sky that she realized was the lights around the finish line. Getting closer, she could hear the cheering, and as she got even closer, the crowds appeared. People began shouting her name, which was printed underneath her racing number, but Jabson was so tired she just assumed that somehow everyone knew who she was.

“I thought, ‘I’m a rock star!’” she said. “All I could think of was ‘This is the thing you’ve been dreaming of since age 6.’”

Jabson still tears up when she talks about crossing the finish line and being greeted by her friends and family.

“It was a really emotional, intimate experience,” she said. “It was life changing.”

Coming back from the race, Jabson said she brought with her the realization that she can commit to huge, life altering projects and succeed, and that competitions like the Iron Man aren’t just for young, fit athletes.

Now, when she tries to make up excuses for not going on a run or a bike ride, she realizes she can no longer say she can’t do it, because she’s proven she could do more than she ever thought herself capable of.

“It gave me a window into myself.”

There are 55 Ironman events that take place around the world each year, culminating in an Ironman Championship held in Kona, Hawaii.
Below is a video featuring Jabson crossing the finish line in Madison, Wisc.

~ Theresa Hogue

Tom Eversole, director of strategic planning for Health and Human Sciences, explains OSU's lead role in what could be a collaborative effort to establish a school of public health in Oregon. (photo: Angela Yeager)

For the past year, leaders in the OSU College of Health and Human Sciences (HHS) and at other Oregon universities have been exploring the potential of developing a new academic  entity: an accredited school or college of public health. The new school would be the only such institution in the state of Oregon.

That proposal is now moving forward under the leadership of Tom Eversole, hired last summer as director of Strategic Development for a College of Public Health & Human Sciences. Eversole says that the proposed school ideally would be collaborative, including Oregon Health and Sciences University and Portland State University as partners. Both universities already join forces with OSU in a nationally recognized masters of public health degree program.

For OSU, the potential new college would result in an expansion of graduate programs and a new ability to compete nationally for research funding only available to accredited schools or colleges of public health, organizers say. OSU already has faculty in the areas required by the Council on Education for Public Health for accreditation. It awards masters degrees in three and offers the only Ph.D. programs in public health in the state.

“We are in a position to provide the leadership needed to achieve accredited school status at all three universities,” said Tammy Bray, HHS dean. “We are in frequent consultation with our colleagues at OHSU and PSU as we begin the development process. They are important partners in this project and have been very helpful in shaping the initial conversation among a variety of stakeholders.”

Start up costs for the new college initially would come from vacant academic lines within the Department of Public Health at OSU. The department is filling vacancies across HHS in ways that align with staffing requirements for accreditation. Future investments will be necessary at all three participating institutions.

It is expected, however, that heightened ability to pursue research grants, service contracts and foundation funding will provide a considerable return on investment of public funds. “The new school will allow us to build and support the academically trained workforce Oregon needs to address the public health challenges of tomorrow. It is an important investment in the health of the next generation of Oregonians,” Eversole said. For more specifics on the public health proposal, see answers to an FAQ list posted here.

According to the 2008 survey of local health departments by the Coalition of Local Health Officials, health departments statewide were assessed as having only 57 percent of the required capacity as measured using national standards by the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO.)  The greatest gaps were in public health policy development, program evaluation and research.  These are some of the gaps the new school will be designed to fill.

Eversole led a discussion last week on creation of the school of as part of the Oregon Public Health Conference, held on the OSU campus. Eversole outlined specific needs for such a school and the way the school might be structured. Health researchers and professionals from around Oregon were enthusiastic about the proposal, chiming in with ideas on how the school might look.

“Oregonians expect and deserve a robust, world-class public health system,” Eversole said. “We need a coordinated effort among public health academicians, practitioners and government agencies to make that happen.”

Eversole told participants that nationally nearly one-quarter of the  public health workforce is close to retirement. In order to meet employment demands, three times as many public health graduates will be needed annually during the next 12 years.

Conference participants had thoughts on the school’s academic focus. One person wanted to see occupational public health emphasized; another said internships for students must be a strong component. Many affirmed the collaborative nature of the school, not only for OSU, PSU and OHSU, but for government agencies, professional associations and public health practitioners that must be part of the program.

Dr. James Gaudino, a medical epidemiologist with the state Department of Human Services in Portland, said he received his medical training in California. When he moved to Oregon, he said he was shocked to find there wasn’t an accredited school of public health. Oregon, in fact, is the only West Coast state without such a school.

“There’s a big gap and it needs to be filled,” he said. “I’m part of a group trying to work on getting an accredited maternal health program in the state. When we applied for grants, we were told all grants had to be directed to an accredited school. I only see a benefit to Oregon having this.”

Under the proposal, an application for accreditation would be submitted by fall 2011. A two-year self study would follow, and accreditation could be awarded as early as 2014.

~ by Todd Simmons