Running Boston!!

Hey everyone! Hope you are all having an amazing day!!:flowerforyou:

One of our own, Silvana (sdereski) is running the Boston Marathon on April 18th! She has trained hard and long and only a few know of her sacrifices to keep training, including almost being hit by a car during a winter run, fighting off dogs, etc!!

Cheer her on and send your best to her, here on this thread!:drinker: :drinker:

We are all so proud of her!!

(The link will give you the picture, and she is beautiful, but for your convenience, the text of the article is below.)

http://saultstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3069555


Boston bound
Regular runner headed for famous marathon
By Shirley Mills

Running the Boston Marathon is a goal of many who regularly — and seriously — lace up.

Silvana Dereski can relate.

The Wawa marathoner won the bid to participate in the famous race, which includes the gruelling Heartbreak Hill climb, so named because of its position so close to the end of the route.

The race is April 18.

Running a marathon is not new to Dereski. In October 2009, to celebrate turning 50, she ran five, one for each decade of her life, winding up last August.

Last year, she finished a marathon with two seconds to spare, realizing she could run the 42.1 kilometres or 26.2 miles when her time was below the current qualifying four hours and five minutes. Her level of fitness was good and she was injury free.

"Maybe this Boston race is easier than I thought," Dereski said.

And so began training, which, for her, was a good thing because she had just started a new job with many new challenges.

Dereski joined Weyerhaeuser in 1995, and was manufacturing manager when the plant shut its doors in 2007 due to the collapse of the forestry industry.

She was hired last October as Wawa Family Health Team executive director.

"Having to train was a bonus for the stress of learning a new job," Dereski said.

The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon, beginning in 1897, and inspired by the 1896 Summer Olympics. It attracts some 20,000 runners annually and takes place the third Monday in April. Women weren't officially allowed to enter until 1972. Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb is the first woman recognized to have run the entire marathon in 1966.

The Boston Athletic Association organizers have announced a new qualifying time by dropping five minutes for every age group, to take effect in 2013. For Dereski, that would mean her time would have to be four hours.

She began running in high school, and still regularly laces up, which she says helps her cope with personal sadness, family troubles and work-related stress.

"I believe exercise keeps you healthy, and for me it's running," Dereski said.

Dereski's husband, Daryl, also lost out when Weyerhaeuser shut down, so he now works out of town. But the couple sometimes train during days off.

The Dereskis have two grown sons and are about to become grandparents.

"Mainly I feel lucky I can do this," Dereski said when asked about her training, and all that goes with it.

A balanced diet, no alcohol and cross training, work for her.

"People wonder and ask, 'Do you find the long training runs daunting? What are your thoughts?' "

Dereski agreed the long, lonely miles can be difficult. For her, it's time to think of friends and those she misses, as well as home and family. She also figures out solutions to problems while steadily hitting the macadam for hours.

"I'm going to be a grandmother, so the other day I was thinking about meeting my new grandchild and just how happy that made me," she added. "Amazing how you can love someone you haven't met yet, so much."