CHERRYVALE — Jeff Menzer of Menzer Performance faces the ultimate challenge of his life.

Accustomed to tricking old vehicles into muscular race cars at his Cherryvale business, Menzer Performance, the Cherryvale man is transforming his own body into a machine of speed and endurance.

Menzer has joined forces with a friend from their Cherryvale High School days in training for the Chicago Marathon, which will be held in six weeks. The 26-mile race on Sunday, Oct. 12, will take more than 47,000 runners through the winding suburbs and asphalt jungle of the Windy City.

However, the grueling training regimen of Jeff Menzer and his friend, Cherryvale native Jeremy Bell, now living in Olathe, Kan., has more to do with helping others rather than testing the physical limits of their own bodies. Menzer is running the marathon as a salute to his mother-in-law, Cherryvale resident Barbara Long, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007.

Menzer is using the marathon to raise awarness about breast cancer, and he is collecting donations for the marathon with all proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.

“Jeremy and I ran the Neewollah 5K run last October in Independence, and afterward we agreed to do something bigger to get our bodies in shape,” Menzer said. “That’s when we thought about doing a marathon. My only stipulation is that we train for a marathon as a way to raise money for someone. And, that’s when I thought about Barbara.

“I talked to Barbara about it, and she was totally in full support of it. Barbara told me that she could not have survived breast cancer without the help of the American Cancer Society. So, we’re training for the marathon while also raising funds for the American Cancer Society.”

Menzer and Bell began their marathon training on Jan. 1 with a weekly running program that was designed to increase endurance and stamina.
Just eight weeks into their training program, the two Cherryvale natives participated in a half marathon (13 miles) in Olathe. Menzer said the half marathon was a barometer to see if a full marathon was possible.
“I’m glad we did it because it was a real eye opener,” he said. “After the half marathon, we just pushed ourselves for the full marathon in Chicago.”
Menzer and Bell are now in the midst of an aggressive 18-week training program in preparation for the marathon. The training program involves weekday runs —ranging from three to six miles — capped by a longer run — about nine or 10 miles — on the weekend.
And, in between those daily treks is a diet that is geared toward improving the performance of the body. That includes protein-intense foods combined with a volume of high fats after longer runs. The goal is to try to get about 5,000 calories of “clean” food in the body each day.

For example, on Tuesday, Menzer feasted on a breakfast that included one cup of oatmeal, four eggs topped with one ounce of cheese and six slices of bacon. Lunch included a 16-ounce pork chop with four ounces of broccoli. Supper included a platter of nachos topped with cheese and chicken.

In between those meals, as well as at the end of the night, Menzer will drink protein shakes.

And, he’ll wash all of the food down his gullet each day with three to four gallons of water.

On the day of the longest runs, he’ll eat four or five pieces of french toast, several bananas, and perhaps three or four bowls of cereal.

“I love Fruity Pebbles,” he said. “It’s pretty common to eat half a box of cereal after my longest runs on the weekends.”

Menzer also feeds his body with a myraid of vitamins and health supplements each day.

However, whoofing down a lot of food and swallowing a handful of vitamin supplements has impacted one part of the body that he didn’t anticipate: his wallet.

“With the higher cost of food, my wife and I have been amazed to see our monthly food bill increase dramatically,” he said. “Training for a marathon isn’t cheap.”

Also adding to the cost of the training is shoe replacement. Menzer wears out one pair of running shoes each month.

Menzer and Bell have one goal in mind when competing in the Chicago marathon: to finish the 26-mile race in four and a hours or less. The marathon is a test of the human body, not the speed of the feet, Menzer said.

“We realize we’re not going to win it,” he said. “In fact, the faster runners are always at the front of the starting line. Those runners like Jeremy and I who hope to finish in the four-hour range are placed about halfway back of the racers. In fact, by the time we get to the starting line, the fastest runners will already be 30 minutes into their marathon.”

Menzer and Bell talk by telephone several times each day. They motivate each other by talking before and after their daily training exercises.

“I’ll call him immediately after we run each day,” he said. “I’ll be out of breath, I’ll hear him trying to catch his breath, too. We’ll both say that the training sure sucked that day and that we’ll talk the next day. That’s the way we motivate each other.”

Menzer currently is gathering donations for breast cancer awareness via a website with an edgy name: www.runningforboobs.com.

“I thought it would be a joke at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the concept,” he said. “Someone who logs on to the website expecting to find boobs is going to be met with a story of one person’s survival from breast cancer. And, they’ll think, ‘Hey, I’d like to donate to that cause.’”