My Life as a Runner

At the ripe old age of 26, fifty pounds overweight and smoking like a chimney, I began my life as a runner. My younger brother made a bet with me that I could not run from his house to mine, the extraordinary distance of ¼ mile. He won!

For months after that humiliation, I ran around my block every night after dark as I didn’t want to be seen. I began to lose weight and feel better. Bragging to a friend of mine at work about my new found athletic ability, he decided I was ready to try some distance. “How about three miles?” he suggested. We scheduled the run, completed the run and I was so excited to have run that distance that we celebrated by yes, its true, SMOKING!!!

Finally, I had to decide whether to continue smoking or running. It was increasingly difficult to do both. I chose to keep running, one of the better decisions of my life! Soon I entered my first race. Just for fun, I said but really deep inside I was going to try my best to run as fast as I could. However, when a woman with a double jogging stroller, balloons tied to the handle and a dog on a leash passed me by, I realized all I really wanted to do was finish the race, and I did.

By this time also, I had lost fifty pounds, had not smoked for years and I felt I was in really good physical shape. I ran the Kenwood 4^th of July race a few times, the Harvest Fair run, and the Human Race usually with a group of friends. These races were always fun and just finishing was the goal.

I have had the usual runners “incidents”. I have been chased by large and small dogs, once even having to run up to a stranger’s house and beat on the door to let me in.

Another time I was nearly run over when one of Bambi’s relatives jumped out of the bushes and missed me by inches.

I have continued to run and have realized the mental aspect of running for me is as important as the physical. Through much personal loss in my life, running has helped me to move forward, because that’s what you do when you run. My racing career is back in gear as now I have a cause.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002. Running as much as I could during my treatment made me feel like I was still the same person.

Running is not something I have to do, it is something I love to do. I have been running now for 30 years, (and boy am I tired!). Feel free to e-mail me laurawennes@empirecollege.com with any questions or comments. You might be interested in trying a little running or walking, and there is a wonderful store here in Santa Rosa that can be of great help in choosing shoes, running gear and they also have all of the information about upcoming races and running clubs. You can visit their website at www.fleetfeetsantarosa.com

One more piece has been added to my running life, now I run with my grandchildren in a jogging stroller!.