Johnson, Puma, Torres, McNamee run marathon
by Rudy Brandl, Sports Editor
Running has become a way of life for many adults looking to stay in shape or relieve the stress and tension associated with work and family responsibilities.
Four local women, who train regularly in the Hillsborough area, recently competed in the MORE half-marathon in Central Park. The MORE event, run by the magazine for women over 40, was a race in which women over 40 years old could partner up with someone under 40. Stacey Johnson, Alysia Puma, Lil Torres and Rachel McNamee participated in the race.
Johnson still remembers when she started running 26 years ago.
”I started when I was trying out for the varsity field hockey team at North Plainfield High School,” Johnson said. “The coach told us if you wanted to be on varsity you needed to run two miles in under 14 minutes. I ran all summer and I did it on the first day of practice. Needless to say, I was hooked.”
Puma hit a new personal best in the MORE race, finishing in a time of 1:41. It was her fourth half-marathon, which she used as a training run for the Boston Marathon on April 21. She continued her roll with a personal record 3:28.21 time, which computes to an impressive average of 7:57 per mile. Puma placed 974th out of 8,935 women in the field, which qualified her to return for next year’s event.
Torres has been running for 26 years. She has competed in three half-marathons (Philadelphia, Seaside Heights and MORE) one full marathon (Jersey Shore) and countless 15Ks, 10Ks and 5Ks all over New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She has also competed in New York, New Hampshire, Maryland, Delaware, Washington D.C., Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Oklahoma and California as well as abroad in Colombia and the Netherlands.
Racing wasn’t always pretty for Torres. She’s cut her 5K times down by nearly 12 minutes since her competitive debut.
”I remember running my first 5K, finishing in 37 minutes and feeling so sick,” she said. “Yesterday I finished my latest 5K, The Run with Rotary in Montgomery, in 25:36.”
All four ladies enjoy the weekend workouts and their improving times show the training isn’t just fun – it’s productive.
”This group has been training together on Sundays since October,” Puma said. “Our runs range from 6-22 miles all around Hillsborough. We love it.”
”It’s an awesome way to keep fit,” Torres said. “And now being part of a running group, the motivation is renewed – I can’t let my fellow runners down. I know they are going to be out there Saturday or Sunday morning bright and early. And eager to run!”