The Core Four
How a Group of Women Leaned on the Strength
of Community to Cross the Marathon Finish Line Together
PHOTOS BY JACK PORTUNE
Cami Baugh’s voice fluctuates with emotion, and a smile literally lifts her cheeks higher and higher with each sentence she shares about one of the most powerful experiences in her 25 years of life.
The recent Southeastern University graduate insists that a year ago she was unable to even run around Lakeland’s famous three-mile Lake Hollingsworth path. And now, it’s all wonderfully debatable if she is prouder of the amazing physical achievement of completing the 26.2-mile Walt Disney World Marathon this January or the experiences she shared with the “Core Four” group of friends she ran it with side-by-side-by-side-by-side after training together for nine life-changing months together.
These four members of the self-proclaimed “Core Four”–Lakelanders Baugh, Ida Mundell, 41, Haley Smith, 29, and Caylyn Gilbert, 34, who met, not on a running trail, but attending ACCESS Church—are seated at a long table in the Lakeland Public Library on a rainy winter afternoon just weeks after the big run. Alternating between big laughs and poignant cries, they are all eager to share how running the marathon became such a life-changing experience.
The “power” they received from completing the marathon wasn’t from crossing the finish line, but instead from the dig-deep journey it took getting to the starting line.
“I’ve been telling people—and it sounds so dramatic—but [completing the marathon] was probably one of the top three moments in my life,’’ Baugh explained. “The process of physically, knowing that I can do this now, that I’ve trained and that I’ve put in the work. You had to trust the process of ‘I can’t do it today, but I know eventually I will.’
“Then the other side was really emotional because we all trained together for nine months,’’ she said, her voice breaking. “And between the four of us, we did so much ‘life’ with each other.”
Upon reflection, Baugh recognizes that “the real gift was training” with her three friends because together they got to experience the highs and lows of life, and training for a marathon.
“It’s not about the running,’’ added Mundell, as Baugh paused and wiped away tears sharing the impact of the group on her life.
Clearly, it is about so much more. Often you will hear long distance runners speak about experiencing a “runner’s high,”—a term that describes a euphoric reaction to great physical challenge. In the case of these four women, it’s a condition that has endured and changed them.
It took a very respectable six hours and 27 minutes for the Core Four to finish the famous race through Disney parks – but that’s essentially a sprint considering the longer-term benefits they all say they share in now. Their victory was the enduring sentimental medal of friendship.
“We didn’t have a time goal, but we wanted simply to finish and have fun along the way and to soak in everything,’’ Baugh said. “We crossed the finish line hand in hand, which was
so special.”
It’s impossible to spend any time with this group without experiencing a lift in your step—an improved perspective, a sense of “YES I CAN!”
Mundell—a proud mother of four children spanning the decade of ages between 9 and 19—is clearly the “ring leader.” When asked for a single word to describe her, the others are quick and respond in unison, “Ida is Joy,” and that’s with a capital J.
26.2 denotes the number of miles a participant runs to complete the Walt Disney World Marathon, while 48.6 is the number of miles completed by participants who finish the marathon in addition to Disney’s 5k, 10k and
half marathon.
Not only is Mundell the “marathon veteran” of the group having completed three previous races, but in overcoming her own set of challenges she was the de facto example of what it looks like to push yourself to do hard things.
In 2022, Mundell suffered a horrible injury while renovating a home in the Lake Morton Historic District. When she was removing a pair of old 600-pound radiators, the units fell onto and severely injured her foot. Already an avid runner, Mundell was suddenly sidelined for months. But not being able to run only motivated her soul. She started back slowly doing local 5k “fun runs” and in the three years since, has completed three full marathons.
“You gain discipline knowing you can stick to something,’’ Mundell said of her incredible recovery. “It’s the concept of never breaking a promise to yourself. Knowing that it was a goal even during my injury, I thought, ‘Well, I have to get better because I’m going to run a marathon.’
“But I’m way more moved by other people’s accomplishments than my own,’’ she is quick to remind. “The greatest joy of my life is that we just did that (marathon) together.”
It’s exactly the sort of powerful message that compelled her three other running disciples.
For Smith—a highly-respected special education teacher in the Polk County school system—the idea of running a marathon wasn’t something she had really considered. She had run a half-marathon previously and enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment. But doubling that distance took some serious contemplation.
“It was hard to wrap my brain around that many miles, but I knew I could start and thought I’ll just show up and see what happens,’’ Smith said. “There are so many lessons I’ve learned from running, but a lot of it is consistency and that every step forward matters.
“Sometimes we have really good days and there are also really hard days mentally —and running was an outlet to just release. There are also times I don’t feel I am strong enough to do something, and so it’s really special that all of us could come together and I could show up not feeling I was strong enough and that didn’t matter because I could lean on the strength of my friends. And the joy of the Lord is our strength and I really feel the core of what our group is, is joy.”
Joy is the recurring theme. In these cases, it’s a byproduct of forming a deep friendship and the willingness to put in the hard work. And that’s where Gilbert comes in. As the owner of Lakeland’s CrossFit OCI Fitness gym and an
“It was hard to wrap my brain around that many miles, but I knew I could start and thought I’ll just show up and see what happens,’’ Smith said. “There are so many lessons I’ve learned from running, but a lot of it is consistency and that every step forward matters.”
Caylyn Gilbert, Cami Baugh, Ida Mundell, Haley Smith
accomplished bodybuilder, Gilbert was logically the right member of the Core Four to establish the training regimen.
“I think for me, doing hard things is at the top of my list,’’ Gilbert said. “I’m going to push myself to do anything hard, no matter what it is. But I also think I have a lot of people at the gym and in life that I want to show, it doesn’t really matter if it’s hard. That’s where I find joy.”
She thoroughly enjoys seeing other people succeed, and it also pushes her to stretch herself to the limit.
“Obviously, the process, that’s my fun stuff —I enjoy suffering, I enjoy hard things,’’ she said, smiling at the others, who started nodding and laughing.
Just as the discussion—which at times felt like motivational therapy—started to conclude, Mundell received a text she wanted to share. Yet another person the group had encountered during their own training was texting with news.
“She ran three miles today in the rain, the farthest she’s gone and wanted to let us know it was ‘beautiful,” Mundell said, also noting another friend had reached out earlier in the morning with news of a personal goal.
“It was an 18-minute mile and others might scoff at that, but we are so proud of her because it was her first mile,’’ Mundell said.
Jordan Bellamy, 30, is another Core Four disciple of sorts. He knows all the women— and their families—from church and has not only long admired their running goals and trained with the group, but took the inspiration and fitness he gained and competed in his own marathon.
“I think what I learned from them is the strong emphasis on just how much community matters—how many people are in your circle and want to push you to do hard things even when it feels unattainable—to encourage you or be realistic with you when it feels hard,’’ he said. “I think that’s one of the biggest things I was able to experience with them—just how big community is and continuing to meet your goals, not just with running but with everything.”
Mundell agrees: “That’s the beauty of running. Be far less concerned with the time of your pace. Forward is a pace. We just want people to know, they can.”
