5K, Take 1

Staff Writer

Stony Brook, NY - It was merely a 5 kilometer run through the roads around the SUNY Stony Brook campus on a chilly Sunday morning, but for one runner, it was that and so much more. To understand why, we need to understand the longer race that this runner has been running.

Obesity had plagued Jim for years, who had long struggled in the battle of the bulge on his own. Battles were won and lost but the war was always tilted towards the heavier side of the scale. That is, until September of 2005, when all that changed. Jim got help.

"I'm not certain that I can pinpoint an event that triggered my need for help, outside of my wife finally saying, 'Enough!' and making the call to go to the nearest Weight Watchers center," said Jim, sitting down after the race. "It was exactly what I needed."

With the weight dropping by the fistful last fall, a long-hidden love resurfaced in Jim's life. Running was coming back in dribs and drabs. First, a tenth of a mile, then 2, then a quarter, and so on. "By mid-January, I had run 2.5 miles non-stop. It was unbelievable." He progressed from there, extending the distance all the way to 8+ miles by summer, all the while improving on pace and continuing his march towards his weight-loss goal.

Once the weight was all lost, he felt the need to test his running in a real race, so when a co-worker informed him of the SUNY 5K event, there was no turning back. Not only was he going to run, he wanted to beat this long-time runner who invited him.

"When the race started, I think I was a bit over-zealous and got out a bit fast. By the time we had climbed the first hill, I was sucking wind and getting passed by my co-worker before the 1-mile mark. But I held it together." Throughout the first two-thirds of the course, much of which was steadily uphill, Jim maintained a good solid pace. In the back-stretch, however, he faded a bit, but still managed a 64th place finish with a more-than-respectable 23:10 time, just 40 seconds behind his co-worker.

"It was only 15 seconds off my all-time best practice run at that distance, and I practice on a very flat course, so I'm quite pleased, " said Jim. "It was only my first run, so how could I be disappointed?"

When asked about future race plans, Jim smiled broadly and said, "Well, I'd love a rematch with (his co-worker) in a 5K, but my sights are really set on the spring and a longer run. At least a half-marathon in May."

5 kilometers? How hard can that be for someone who has already run the race that Jim has? Can he do better? I wouldn't bet against it.