"I Run For Life"

--I run for hope.  I run to feel.  I run for the truth, for all that is real.

--I run for your mother, your sister, your daughter, your wife.

--I run for you and me, my friend.  I run for life.

                         Melissa Etheridge

Flashback to a warm summer day, circa 1998.  I had spent the night at my grandparents’ house in Berne, NY – just for fun … or so I thought.  I woke up in the morning, and my grandfather asked me if I wanted to go down to the town park to check out the race my grandmother was helping to put on.  Sounded good to me, so I ate a blueberry bagel and off we went! I had no idea what I was getting into when I agreed …

That day, I ran in my first road race – a 3K – with a “massive” hill in the beginning (it really isn’t that big, but it seemed like it to an 8-year-old inexperienced runner!) 

The next year, I went back to the same race, following the same course … until a course volunteer stopped me at the turn and said there was no 3K this year, just a 5K.  Well, off to the 5K course then – and just when I thought I was almost done!  I remember having to walk part of that (up another “massive” hill), and the race-affiliated ambulance drove next to me to make sure I was OK (I was fine … other than being hot, tired, thirsty, and wanting to be done 10 minutes ago!) 

I ran that race off and on for a few years, learning that it was small because it conflicted with “some big race in Utica” (aka, Boilermaker, which is now one of my favorite races!).  I even snagged the title of women’s champion one year, with my boyfriend-at-the-time claiming the men’s title (followed by a picture/article about us in the local paper!)

Throughout elementary and middle school, I dabbled in road races here and there – my dad and grandmother often walked in the local races, so I’d go with them – my legs were pretty little still, so I ran to catch up and get ahead, then walk to catch my breath.

I joined the high school track team in 9th grade, thinking I’d be better off going the route of sprinting and pole vaulting.  That didn’t work out so well.  I all but abandoned running after that season, setting my mind on playing lacrosse the next spring – but (fortunately) my parents weren’t too keen on that idea, with the new equipment, club dues, etc.  SO, back to running I went – this time, to the distance squad, starting with indoor track during my sophomore year.  Game over. 

 I fell in love with the sport. 

I made new friends, who accepted me as part of their family even though I didn’t run cross country with them; some of them remain my close friends today.  I learned how to run, how to train, and what it means to be a runner.  On weekends, I chose to stay home and go to bed early rather than go out with my non-runner friends, because I had a meet or practice the next day.  I started planning other things around my running (this part has become even more prominent in the last few years). 

I had a lot of respect for my high school coaches; I wanted to be like them, to create that sense of purpose in young athletes like they did for me, to foster the desire to do more, do better. 

What started for me as just going to a small, local road race “on a whim” has morphed into something that has become my life. 

I am a runner, as are my husband and many of our friends.  My family has run/walked in races as a team (go Team Snurtle!!), and we’re all at different paces/ages/abilities.  My dad, who turns 70 (!!!) this year, is still out there walking in some of our favorite family races – at a pretty speedy clip that places him ahead of many runners.  My sisters have both run half marathons – we all did the Disney Princess Half the same year!  My mom has walked/run a 5k and a few 2-milers, and my brother once struggled through a 5K (and finally understood why I respond with an eye roll when he asks “why didn’t you just run faster?”).  My parents and father-in-law drove 3+ hours to watch me run my first marathon; my parents, sister & her family travelled to (very briefly) see me run by during my first Boston.  We celebrate Flag Day in our hometown with Dino’s Pizza for dinner and then a 1-mile race before the parade - as if a mile isn’t hard enough, try running it on a stomach full of pizza & wings!! 

I am a physical therapist who works with runners.  Since my last clinical rotation when I was in PT school, I knew that the orthopedic/sports realm was for me.  I got excited to receive a patient intake form that stated they wanted to return to running after their injury.  I now own a practice that is primarily focused on runners. We speak the same language.  We have the same thoughts, desires, fears and anxieties (more or less).  These are my people. 

I am a running coach.  I coach cross country and track at the high school I attended.  When I started, I was coaching alongside both of my former coaches, and I have called on them many times in the past 4 years for guidance in my coaching career.  Their love for running ignited that fire within me, and I hope that mine does the same for my athletes today.  

This is why I sing Melissa Etheridge’s song whenever I need a little pick-me-up.  It is a reminder of why I do what I do, day in and day out:

I run for life.