by Michaeline Nelson
Jan Parillo and Preston Hare are regulars at the track on Monday and Thursday morning practices before going to work. Together they own a company, Parillo/Hare Realtors, working across the state of Rhode Island. Jan says she is a people person and enjoys helping customers. It can be a stressful time for people when they are buying or selling a house, so she tries to make the process easier and keep everyone calm and collected. The customers are the best part, while the hardest part is dealing with getting through all the regulations and financial systems. Running in the morning is how they both like to start off their day.
Jan started running about two years ago when Preston introduced her to the club. Her first race was the Gaspee 5K. The race is part of a series of events in honor of Rhode Island colonists burning the British revenue schooner, HMS Gaspee in 1772, shedding the first blood of the American Revolution. Jan had never run in her life and wanted to be able to breathe while she ran. She didn’t know anything about running, but started on a walk-run program. Jan says that finishing a run, workout, or race is her natural high. Running feels good and clears her mind. She recently set a new PR in the 5K in just over 30 minutes at the Wild Bill’s Run for ALS in Warwick, winning her age-group division. Along the way she has learned that not being able to breathe at the end of a race is normal; with training you just finish faster and keep learning to push yourself a little bit harder.
Preston has run his whole life. In high school he ran track and field, the low hurdles and half mile, and threw the shot put. He also ran cross-country, but only to pass Latin class, since his teacher was also the coach. Preston has used running as a way to explore during his travels, whether to the city of Washington, D.C. or to Algeria. But his favorite place to run is in Newport, Rhode Island by the ocean. When commenting on his home state of Rhode Island, he says, “I enjoy this part of the world more than anywhere else”.
Preston and Jan both volunteer on a regular basis at the Ronald McDonald House of Providence. In fact one of the reasons that Preston was first attracted to the running club was that it was part of a broader goal, not just a running club. They volunteer at the House twice a month doing whatever needs to be done to keep the House running efficiently, cooking, cleaning, mailing; there is always something to do. Preston also volunteers at special events, from running a tent at the Rock & Roll Half Marathon to cooking Easter dinner at the House. In addition, Preston has helped to get many other people involved in the Ronald McDonald House. He is part of the Haven and United Methodist Church, singing gospel music in a three-person choir and helping out with Sunday school classes and the youth group, which has begun to volunteer at the House. Preston enjoys having the Ronald McDonald House and the Haven Church as places to channel his energy. He can do whatever needs to be done, from preaching a whole service, to baking delicious cookies.
Preston and Jan are also both cancer survivors; Preston survived melanoma as a teenager and Jan underwent surgery for breast cancer last June. They both say it has given them a different outlook on life. Walking and running has helped them to overcome injuries and surgeries. You just have to keep moving. Whatever illness you might have you can’t dwell on it. Their advice is: never give up, always go forward
I ran the Jerusalem marathon on Friday, March 21st, my 30th marathon. I lived in Jerusalem for a summer when I was 8 years old, I attended University in Jerusalem in the early 70’s and I volunteered on a Kibbutz between college and graduate school. Jerusalem has always felt like a second home to me.
Jerusalem is the most holy city, revered by Christians, Jews and Muslims. The marathon is advertised as a “run through history where all three religions have trod in the past”. It runs through the new and old city and has the most beautiful views of all of Jerusalem.
There were 25,000 runners from 52 countries, 12% ran the marathon, 25% ran the half marathon and the rest of the runners ran the 10K.
The male winner was from Kenya and the female winner was from Ethiopia
I finished feeling strong, and blessed to have had this opportunity to run this fascinating and challenging course.
I highly recommend this very hilly marathon even with its extremely challenging course with over 10 major climbs.
“It is an opportunity to get a direct experience of the city in all its aspects: the various communities. its fascinating history, the fast growing development and construction, and the unique tourist sites, all this while breathing the proverbial, mountain air- as clear as wine”.
by Michaeline Nelson
Patricia Sullivan started running on August 17, 2008. She had always been athletic. In her youth Patricia raced on the track until 8th grade, but her high school years were pre-Title Nine, when she says, “Women had to play half-court basketball because it was too dangerous to exert too much effort, and so becoming a competitive runner was definitely forbidden.”
And sports weren’t the only place women didn’t have a foothold in the field. In the professional world there were almost no women lawyers at the time when Patricia entered law school at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. As she puts it, she was “riding the wave of changing the world.” She thought law would be a good fit because she is competitive and likes to write and talk. For the past 33 years she has worked with Edwards Wildman Palmer, LLP on cases emphasizing antitrust law, including commercial law, criminal antitrust matters, constitutional cases and class action lawsuits. Working in a private practice with a large firm, she enjoyed helping people, challenging herself by taking a tangled problem and fixing it, and being intellectually stimulated on a day-to-day basis.
Her job, kids, and two knee surgeries deterred Patricia from running for many years. That first day in August, she jogged for about 1.5 miles and was surprised that she liked it. Now she has more trouble taking a day off from running during the week than getting out the door. She doesn’t have a lot of time to read for pleasure so she combines running and reading, listening to novels on her iPod. Having done lots of traveling, she has runs and places that she connects with books and scenes from those books. She says that one of her most memorable runs took place during a trip to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where she was representing detainees. While she was there she went for a run on the windward side of the bay. She was listening to “The Trial” by Franz Kafka, which tells the story of a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote authority, a tale where the nature of the man’s crime is never revealed to him or the reader. In describing the run she says, “Cuba is a Caribbean island, but nobody is trying to make it pretty. The water is a gorgeous blue, the land is a cactus desert, and during the whole run there were buzzards circling in the air.”
After she started running more regularly, the next surprise for Patricia came during her first race. She liked it. She wanted to race faster. Running began providing another outlet besides her job for her competitive energy. She says that the beauty of being 61 years old but only a 3.5 year-old competitive runner is that she keeps getting better. And she has learned a lot from picking up running, something new and physically challenging, at a time when many people are dropping things in their life. It is energizing. This realization was one of the factors that translated into her decision to apply for the position of federal magistrate judge, a post for which she was recently selected, becoming the first woman to serve in this position in Rhode Island.
She is excited to rise to the plethora of responsibilities and challenges her new position will bring. She will have to distance herself from her former law firm, and its partners and associates. As with her previous job, now as a federal magistrate judge, she looks forward to the dynamic environment and constant learning that will be required. In terms of running she just set a new PR in the Half-Marathon in Providence. She is still figuring out her next goal, but in July she will be traveling to Russia and hopes to run through Red Square in Moscow. She also has recently started going to RMHP club practices once a week. Her husband Jon, the most inspiring runner in her life, got her a club membership last year. Involvement in the club has added a new social component to running she is starting to appreciate along with the book pleasure, alone time, and the post-run glow that lasts all day.
by Peter Sedgwick
I am writing this open letter to discuss what I have been doing this year to improve my running times and abilities.
First off so you all understand until this year I had not broken my PR from my first half marathon run in Hartford in October of 2008 until my 26 attempt to do so at New Bedford this year, a four and half year of coming up short and just not getting it done.
I also had until 18 months ago had issue with my calves I would pull them very few months and be set back three weeks each time. Now I run always with CEP compression socks and that issue appears to have gone away.
This year I have broken my 5K, 5 Miler and half marathon PR’s all within the past few months, some of them several times. My practice run’s pace have all been reduced by 1 minute per mile or in longer runs more.
What change happened, is very simple one early morning practice at the Brown indoor track, Walter a gentleman who is always there at 6 am was talking to me and then did something that got me going. He simple tapped me in the stomach and said that is what happens at our ages, meaning 50 and overweight
Not so fast, I then started a exercise program. My goal was to burn between 1200 and 1500 calories a day.
Monday AM – Track work out
Monday PM – Incline machine and steeper total time 80 minutes high resistance
Tuesday AM – Elliptical at 60 minutes at level 14
Tuesday PM – Spinning class 60 minutes
Wends day AM – – Elliptical at 60 minutes at level 14
Weds day PM – – Incline machine and steeper total time 80 minutes high resistance / now track
Thursday AM – Track work out/ or Elliptical at 60 minutes at level 14
Thursday PM – Spinning class/Rooster Ramble now
Friday AM – – Elliptical at 60 minutes at level 14
Saturday AM – Long run depending on weather if not gym
Sunday AM – Boot camp class or race day
That was the winter schedule and started on Feb. 1st and kept at it with Modifications to do the better weather. My weekly mileage is around 60 miles per week, of course 60% or more is not on the roads.
I would say that by not injury myself, losing the weight, track work outs and all the resistance training that I have been doing I’ve increased the strength thru out my body. The results speak for themselves last Sunday May 5 I ran the Navigant Credit Union ½ marathon. I not only PR I beat New Bedford by nine and half minutes. At this point I do not know what my limits are, but I am going to take it slow and let the races just happen without pushing my limits too far. Coach Bob warns me at least once a week, be careful don’t overdo it. Trust me I’m going as careful as I can.
Thank you
Peter Sedgwick
Read the story here: Jeff Howley at Julia’s Race, from the Attleboro Sun Chronicle
by Ellen Foley.
I ran the 100 on 100 relay with five friends last Saturday (Aug 13th). Here’s the website: http://www.100on100.org/. We came in 6th of 12 women’s teams (we were something like 89th overall however). This is a great race that starts at the stunning Von Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, VT and travels down scenic Route 100 for 100 miles, to Okemo Mountain in Ludlow, VT. You won’t be surprised to hear that it’s very hilly but also very beautiful, including waterfalls, mountain scenery and 2 covered bridges! Most teams include 6 people, but there are a few “ultra” teams of 3. There’s a lot of spirit on the course, with decorated vans, costumes (at some points) and fantastic organizers and volunteers. There are 18 legs to the course, with total mileage for each runner ranging from 15 to 19 miles. We started at 7 a.m. and finished at 10:20 p.m.; I think the winning team beat us by about 5 hours! Of course the point was to be challenged and have fun, and we did. It was a GREAT time. I highly recommend it, especially if you like hills.
