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Meet the McElwees
  Neither Joe nor Nanette ran in high school or college. They attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, fell in love and married. In 1982 Joe met a friend who talked him into running the Philadelphia Marathon – he was 26 years old and he has been running ever since. ¶ The couple has two boys...
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Eric and Byron Mundy
  Byron and his son, Eric, demonstrate how running can be enjoyed throughout a lifetime and how it can be shared to enhance the lives of others as well. Byron has been running for 40 years. He started during his junior year in college when his roommate encouraged him to give the sport a try...
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George Hughes
  George Hughes is a natural - his stride is effortless and graceful. He looks like he’s been doing it all his life. Not true at all. George just started running about five years ago at age 35. Up until then he dabbled in cycling but found that his only time to ride was at night, and he knew that wasn’t very safe...
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Jodi O’Neill
   When Jodi was a little girl she would wait by the door for her dad to come home from work. He would quickly change his clothes and off they would go. Dad would run and Jodi would tell him all about her day while riding her bike next to him. When Jodi could keep up, she started running, too. By fifth grade they were going to races together...
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Char Nolan
   When I interviewed Char Nolan it was a raw winter day, but she had been out for her usual four mile walk at 5:30 a.m., before sunrise, when many of us are still sound asleep. Thirty-three degrees and pouring rain is Char’s favorite walking weather so she was happy to be out. Char has been a marathon walker for over eight years now. She loves the discipline and...
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Lorraine and Christa Jasper
    When I called Lorraine Jasper to interview her for this article, I learned that she was heading off to Hawaii for the 2005 U.S. National Masters Track and Field meet. I’ve worked out with Lorraine many times at our running club’s track workouts but I say that loosely. I was never actually in her same workout group - it was a bit too fast for me and for most of us...
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Sarah and Rachel German
    Sarah German grew up in Lincoln,Nebraska in an academic family. Physical activity was never particularly important or specifically encouraged. So, when her University of Nebraska freshman roommate coaxed her into taking up running, you can imagine her surprise when she actually enjoyed it! Sarah laughs as she recalls the Converse shoes she used...
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Denise & Vince Santivasi
    Denise Santivasi was raised in a family with seven children which meant she had to work after school when she was growing up. Still she played intramural sports and did some running when she could. She married Len and in 1965 Vince was born.
¶ Being a stay-at-home mom did not end Denise’s athletic ways. At first, she would put Vince in the stroller and go for walks...
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George Sanders
   George Sanders has been running all of his life, but it wasn’t love at first stride. Being too small for football, he chose track as an alternative. However, he was the slowest runner on the team, and found his lack of success discouraging. It came as no surprise that George gave up running after high school. It didn’t take long for him to get and feel out of shape. ¶ At the University of Illinois, he met...
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Joe Vandegrift
In 1991 Joe had surgery on both of his feet. He was 25 years old. Recovery was difficult and depressing. You can’t do much with both feet in a cast, so Joe ate and gained a lot of weight. Once he was healed a 50-year-old veteran runner and good friend told him if he didn’t do something to get rid of the weight he would never reach 50...
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Julie Hankin
  Julie Hankin and her identical twin, Melissa Van Doren, grew up with 3 brothers and another sister in Massachusetts where they attended Concord Carlisle High School. While Melissa was a cheerleader and very social, Julie fell in love with sports. As Julie puts it, “I was too short to play basketball so I went out for the fencing team.” She loved the sport because it was very competitive and highly ...
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