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trained for months and was determined to finish the race. "Given what I went through, it was hard to say what it was going to take to train for New Orleans. But I find if I'm going to do a run, it will lock me into going to a certain city at a certain time." Then, after undergoing therapy, Kaufman was off to Hawaii where he ran in another marathon, in De- cember 2011. "I ran that marathon be- cause, again, I wanted to go to all 50 states," he said. "Part of it also was because my birthday's on December 11. Kaufman, who wants to visit all 50 states and all seven continents, said his expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro was a great way to see Africa. PHOTO COURTESY NOAH KAUFMAN "I went with my father [Jacob Kaufman], and it was a great bonding experience." Not surprisingly, the injuries he suffered while training for the New Orleans marathon, which was followed by the Hawaii marathon, came back to bite Kaufman when he reached Mount Kili- manjaro. "When I decided to climb that mountain, I was concerned that my knees wouldn't hold up well," he said. "That's one reason why it wound up be- ing difficult." Kaufman, who coaches wrestling at Marshall High in Falls Church, Va., also has competed in a triathlon. He has a few other things on his quote- unquote bucket list. "Besides going to all 50 states and all seven continents, I would like to place in a 5K," he said. "I want to keep running and maybe compete in an over-30 wresting tournament. I competed in the Jewish Olympic Trails and didn't place, but it was hard. "I still wrestle with my high school kids. They think I'm old. I tell them I'm not the youngest. "As a high school coach, I focus more on fit- ness. The ones that graduate, I want to see them come back fit. I don't want to see them unhealthy and not eating properly." Kaufman noted that his days on the UVa wres- tling team helped prepare him for his running and mountain climbing endeavors. "Wrestling was really hard," he said. "Practices were challenging. Weight management was brutal. But weight management gave me the feeling I could run in marathons and get to the top of the mountain. I felt if I got through that challenge, I could get through another one. "I was second- or third-string, yet got through all four years. That perseverance is beneficial when running marathons." ◆ CAVALIER CORNER ◆ OCTOBER 2012 ◆ 44