Marathon runner, 53, has come a long way

BY LAUREN MATTHEW
Staff Writer

SCOTT PILLING staff Old Bridge resident Nancy Shanley, 53, runs on the Sandburg Middle School track to prepare for the 2005 New York Marathon. OLD BRIDGE — It’s tough to get Nancy Shanley to stand still.

Three times a week, she’s in New York City by 6 a.m., running in Central Park with the New York Road Runners. Once or twice a week, she’s running in Old Bridge, training on her own for the upcoming New York Marathon.

But it wasn’t always such a rush for the 53-year-old township resident. Shanley fell in love with running not too long ago, and sort of by accident.

After joining Weight Watchers in April 2002, she began taking walks, going a mile at first and keeping a log of how far she went. But as the days got hotter, she found herself walking faster in an effort to avoid mid-day heat.

“I started running and I loved it, and I haven’t stopped since,” she said.

Shanley lost 84 pounds.

A lot of support, she said, came from the Bayshore Fitness and Wellness Center, and from the local Curves program.

“That’s what gave me the biggest jump-start,” she said.

In the summer of 2004, Shanley joined the Jersey Shore Running Club, and this year found herself more serious about running. Just last weekend, she ran a half-marathon; the weekend prior, she ran 20 miles, went over the George Washington Bridge, then ran back. She runs regularly at Old Bridge’s Carl Sandburg Middle School track, which she says is “easy on 53-year-old knees.”

Earlier this year, she entered the lottery for participation in the New York Marathon.

“You have a 50-50 chance [of getting picked],” Shanley noted.

Though she wasn’t chosen, Shanley learned there was another option for participation — by getting involved with Team for Kids, a running program that raises funds for underprivileged children in New York City. Two hundred fifty of the Team for Kids volunteers are chosen, Shanley explained. And the runners who are chosen must each raise $2,500.

“I am in serious fundraiser mode at the moment,” Shanley said with a laugh. “I’m not halfway there yet.”

She’s also been focused on training for the marathon itself, working with coaches and following instructions received each week through a Yahoo e-mail group. The instructions are direct; coaches outline exercises by day, right down to the number of crunches each runner should do.

“We have so many perks,” Shanley said. “The biggest is the coaches.”

The group meets on 90th Street, on the Upper East Side, and trains in Central Park. On weekends, Shanley is out the door by 4:30 a.m.; on weekdays, it’s 6 a.m.

“It’s not unusual for me to walk into Central Park in the dark,” she said.

Shanley’s family has been nothing but supportive, she said, quipping that her husband, Jim, daughter, Colleen, 21, and son, Brian, 18, are “sick of hearing about [the marathon].”

“It’s a big, big investment of time,” she said.

The team members wear bright “Gatorade green” shirts during runs so they can recognize one another from a distance. They even run in the rain, Shanley said.

In August, the Team for Kids ran a 12-mile run in 112-degree heat along the Chelsea piers and alongside the USS Intrepid.

There are 500 Road Runner Team for Kids members in the country. Shanley is the oldest woman on the local team.

“But I’m not the slowest,” she added.

Now, with the marathon about a month away, training is focused more on pacing — how to kick it into high gear for mile 20. And remaining injury-free is also a big priority.

“The hardest part is running slow,” she said.

But during the marathon, Shanley knows the pacing will pay off. She doesn’t expect to win; she just wants to run.

Shanley has come a long way. When she lived in Brooklyn, she used to hand out cups of water to marathon runners.

She keeps with her a picture of herself from before she lost the weight.

“It’s a totally different lifestyle now,” Shanley said. “It’s just an empowering experience.”

After the marathon, Shanley plans to run with other local running clubs. She can’t imagine training for a marathon by herself now, and this is not the last one she’ll run.

“I would love to do it again next year,” she said.

To donate to Shanley and Team for Kids, e-mail her at flowergrl281@aol.com.