My Sister’s Testimony of New Favorites Continued
Maybe you have met Lisa A at a group run or race, but do you know why she started
running 1½ years ago? Read on to find out why…and where it has taken her now!
Lisa A started running to be able to do 5Ks with her daughter, who ran cross country, but
found out that racing was fun and could be a good mother-daughter bonding activity. Lisa used a
combination of running and walking for those initial 5Ks. While at the Runners’ House in River
Vale, Lisa shared that she wanted to be able to “run/run, not run/walk” a 5K, and they pointed
her to the Harrier Beginner to 5K program. Lisa thought she would complete the B25K to
increase her endurance and improve her time. “It was not my plan to become a RUNNER.”
Since Lisa had already participated in a couple of 5Ks, B25K Coach Michele Becker
suggested that she test out a Harrier group run before doing the beginner program. Lisa recalls
that first Harrier run on September 24, 2022: “I ran/ran 3 miles with Razan Hamed in about 36
minutes. I was so happy that I was able to run 3 12-minute miles without stopping that I got
emotional, started crying, called my mom from the parking lot, and knew I would be back. I will
be forever grateful for Razan for agreeing to run at the pace of a newbie-it made all the
difference.”
A few weeks later, Lisa was already running her first Harrier race, the Terri Roemer
Paramus 10K in October 2022. “I remember John Bernard and Denise Yuponce let me pal
around with them that day and I attached myself to them ever since.” Lisa’s favorite distance is,
in fact, the 10K because “you need some level of endurance but you also need to keep a quick
pace the whole 6 miles. I also like that it’s over in about an hour.”
She considers her first half marathon, the Asbury Park RunAPalooza in April 2023, as her
greatest athletic accomplishment thus far. Lisa was “very nervous” about her first big race, and to
top it off, the weather was hail and freezing rain the entire time. She was already soaked by the
time the starting gun went off and had to battle sopping wet shoes, deep puddles, gusty winds
pelleting her with hail, her watch stopping from the rain, and her air pods running out of charge,
“but I did not let any of that get to me. I was proud of myself for pushing through the physical
discomfort, but even more proud that I didn’t let it get to me mentally. Again, I was so moved
emotionally that I called my mom and told her with a shaky voice that I did it!”
Lisa’s favorite race so far was the recent Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in Washington, DC in
April 2024. “It was exciting to be starting and ending at the Washington Monument. The weather
was perfect, the crowd had a great energy, and we saw some of the historic sites over the course
of the run. I also felt I had a decent running day. I especially liked that a lot of the group traveled
to DC so we got to have this experience together.”
Lisa loves that the club provides the space to talk about all things running, from the gear
and training plans, to the nutrition and recovery. However, the best part is the “ridiculously
supportive” mission. She would not have gravitated toward this “crazy, back-breaking, blister-
inducing, knee-aching sport that demands running before sunrise if it weren’t for the camaraderie
and genuine support from everyone in the group. Nothing about running makes sense to most
people I know, so I am so grateful to have the encouragement, counsel, high fives, and fist
pumps whether I PR or tank my run.” In the 18 months since joining, Harriers have gone from
being “my running group to my running buddies to my friends. Sharing stories during long runs
in particular (sometimes about running, oftentimes not) helps to create fast and meaningful
friendships.”
Besides running, Lisa enjoys watching live entertainment and having fun with friends and
family. She is “inspired by very talented people who push their limits,” so she has a standing
promise to herself to go to an event at least once a month, whether it be live music, a Broadway
play, a comedy show, or a sports game. On the other hand, she also enjoys relaxing with “pizza,
beer, and a good cover band (especially if I ran a long run earlier that day).”
Lisa loves her exciting, high-pressure job running a marketing/PR agency, which
constantly demands her “A game,” for which running helps to maintain mental clarity and
physical strength. She is a single mom, an empty nester, to 2 children, Mallory (21) and Jackson
(18). They are the most important thing and “make me want to strive to be the best version of me
that I can be.”
The perseverance that Lisa showed in her first half marathon will be useful in her next
goal, the Marine Corps Marathon this coming October. She never imagined that she would be a
marathoner, but “being a runner – being a Harrier – has me expanding my boundaries and
keeping an open mind about what is possible. Attaining goals I thought were out of reach has
not just affected the way I look at my running, it impacts the way I look at life….I realize more
and more every day that life is short and you only get one shot. There is no more time to waste
thinking about the things I want to do–it’s time to actually do them, including some things I
didn’t even know I wanted to do–like running a marathon!”