My very first post! I guess it is only fitting to describe how I got into running. My addiction to running all started back on the playground of Woodglen Elementary school in suburban New York… where all true passions blossom.
You should probably know. I come from a long lineage of tall women. I am currently 5’10″ my mom is 5’9″ as are most of the women in my large Irish catholic family are.. aunts, cousins, etc. (This excludes my twin sister Carly, who is around 5’2″.) As you can imagine I was always the tallest in my class out of the girls and boys. I had long lanky legs, and whenever we played manhunt at recess or ran the mile for the state required physical fitness test… I always was out in front.. simply because of my long stride.
A good friend Lindsay nick-named me “Strider” (she had an extensive vocabulary for an 8 year old) and it stuck. My mom put my in different running clubs around the county until I was old enough to run for the Middle School Cross-Country and track teams. Then, eventually high school.
With each practice, each run, each race, each mile… my love and obsession with running grew stronger. I became very close with a core group of runners and my coaches. I’ve learned to use running as a stress relief, my own personal therapy time. It has created a relationship with my mom, a life long runner as well, that people can begin to imagine.
Now as I squeeze into the packed corrals in Central Park or Boston, I am far from the stand-out long legged 8 year old on the playground. My name isn’t in the papers and I’m not standing on any podiums. I’ve learned to love running for myself.
And that’s where I am today. Taking it one mile or one stride at a time. I guess I owe Lindsay a big thanks for the nick-name.
-Strider
Easy Strider
