Issue date: 4/1/09 Section: Features

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo Craig Wilson, Texas A&M's director of the Future Scientists, finishes the Austin Marathon. He is shown with his daughter Jessica Wilson, who intended to run until she suffered a stress fracture and her father took her place. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo [Click to enlarge]

Many Aggie runners traveled to that "town down the road" - Austin, Texas - to participate in the city's annual marathon and half-marathon, but one Aggie did something extra: running and conducting an experiment at the same time .

Craig Wilson, Texas A&M's director of the Future Scientists, a student outreach initiative, ran the full Austin marathon in February with an earworm named Buddy in his pocket. As if running 26.2 miles with a worm isn't enough of an adventure, he did it for a good cause.

His daughter, Jessica Wilson, was planning on running the race to raise money for the organization that took care of her grandfather before he died of lung cancer in September.

"I was up to more than 30 miles per week and 18 miles on my long training runs, but I was over enthusiastic and ended up with a stress fracture in my left heel," she said. "However, there was laughter through the tears when Daddy said that with less than a month to train he'd do the marathon in my place."

Buddy also traveled the distance for a good cause.

"I did not know at the time, that there was an agricultural experiment taking place during the marathon," said Cathy Wilson, Craig's wife. "But I was not surprised to find out that Craig had turned his marathon experience into a science experiment."

The goal of the experiment was to see if the distance would affect the worm's life cycle.

"The experiment was really to engage the 1,250 fifth grade Bryan ISD students who are all growing and studying the corn earworm," Craig said of the experiment, which is part of a project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and supported and run out of the College of Science, Center for Mathematics and Science Education (CMSE).

Craig had the students guess the sex of the worm, which could be discovered after the race when the worm pupated, which means to develop into a pupa in the metamorphosis process

"The running 'buddy' was carried in my pocket in the standard growth chamber with food and surrounded by cotton wool," he said. "Buddy did indeed pupate after the race at approximately the same time as the control group and was a male. He has been placed in a mating chamber in my office with a female pupa from the control group."

The project was entertaining for the Wilson family and the Bryan students.

"The goal is to intrigue students and excite them about science and research," Wilson said. "USDA and ARS have funded the project in various forms since 1994 as an outreach effort."

Before they knew about the worm, Craig's family was more concerned about his ability to cross the finish line with only a month to train.

"Going into the race everyone involved, except Daddy, was very worried about his ability to finish the race without injuring himself," Jessica said. "I've run long distance races before, had been following a long term training program to gradually build up my distance, and I was still injured so the fact that the longest run he was up to before the race was eight miles worried me."

Despite their worries, Craig finished the race in four hours and 40 minutes.

"He promised he'd use a run-walk strategy but his competitive spirit overrode that plan, as I knew it would, as soon as he was out on the course and he finished with absolutely incredible times," Jessica said.

Craig's most recent accomplishments are not any surprise to his daughter and wife.

"He decided to run this marathon without any hesitation," Cathy said. "Craig has faced the challenges of being a science educator in Europe, Africa and North America. Running his first marathon at age 57 is just the latest in a long list of achievements."

Jessica said his unique personality helped him cross the finish line.

"He's constantly in awe of the world around him and tiny details that escape most of us are something for him to delve further into and reveal their wonder with others," she said. "He inspires people who meet him to look at their own lives and find excitement in their day to day lives while pushing their boundaries to achieve their goals."

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