Some people enjoy reading. Some people enjoy eating. Some people enjoy lounging on the couch with a video game controller glued to their palm. Brittlyn Sosh, senior from Evansville, Ind., enjoys running.

Most beginning runners look into the Couch-to-5K plan or simple fun runs like the Color Run. Sosh, who has been running as a hobby for almost a year, completed her second marathon in Baton Rouge, La., last Saturday.

With a time of three hours, 27 minutes, a minute slower than her personal record, Sosh took first place female at the Baton Rouge marathon. Explaining that the course was tougher than the course from her first marathon, Sosh said she was still happy with the time despite her personal goal of beating her record. She also said she was excited to win the Baton Rouge Style trophy, a giant flask.

“I ran a marathon in Indianapolis at the beginning of November and that was my first full marathon,” Sosh said. “I qualified to run the Boston Marathon there, but I won’t be doing that until 2014 because (registration for 2013) was already closed. That was my first full marathon. I’ve done half marathons, so it was really exciting doing my first full and actually qualifying (for the Boston Marathon).”

Qualifying for the Boston Marathon at the Indianapolis marathon required a time of three hours, 35 minutes for Sosh’s age group. Sosh ran the 26.2 miles in three hours, 26 minutes.

With five half marathons and two full marathons under her belt, Sosh plans on competing in another full marathon in New Orleans in February 2013.

“I’m wracking them in,” Sosh said, smiling.

Sosh said she just wants to beat her personal best each time she heads out to run, and that is her goal for the marathon in February and the Boston Marathon in April.

“I eventually want to (also) do the Ironman triathlon,” Sosh said. “I’ve been riding bikes and swimming a whole lot with my family, but I want to get some marathons under my belt before I do that.”

Sosh’s family has been the central support system throughout her running adventures, and even encouraged her to start the journey in the first place.

“My family (runs),” Sosh said. “My mom started running, my dad started running, my little sister ran her first half marathon and my grandma runs marathons. Our whole family does it, so it’s just a really cool family thing.”

With her mother’s love of running as inspiration, Sosh added the sport to her busy schedule. She started out by joining an Evansville running group that put together an 18-week training schedule.

“Staying with it was the hardest part,” Sosh said. “There were some weeks where we’d be running almost 60 miles a week, so doing that and going to school and working, it was crazy. It was a lot to handle at times, but you’ve just got to stay with it.”

As a marketing major on track to graduate this month, running only makes up part of what Sosh does in her daily routine.

“One of the main things about me is just being a college student and being able to manage all of my time,” Sosh said. “It’s really stressful. I usually work 18-20 hours a week, and I only have 12 hours of classes a week this semester, but I’m in all 500 level classes, so it feels like 50.”

A member of Alpha Kappa Psi, caretaker of her canine, Bentley, and an individual who values the upkeep of friendships, Sosh has a system for handling her crazy schedule.

“When I get my homework assignments I do it right when I get it,” Sosh said. “I don’t procrastinate at all, and any free time I get I just keep going. I’m like a little energizer bunny. I constantly go, go, go until I can’t go anymore. Let’s just say, I sleep well at night.”

Sosh encourages others to start running and is even willing to share a bit of her own advice on how she keeps doing what she loves.

“Don’t get discouraged,” Sosh said. “When you don’t think you can go anymore, just keep going. I always tell my friends when they ask me how I do it – I always tell them that running is 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical. You only give up when you think you give up.”

Story by Maddie Mucci, Staff writer