From Handstands to Haikus: Meet Kristin!

Q&A with Co-Blogkeeper Melissa S

I had the pleasure of meeting Kristin S during training for the 2021 NYC Marathon while we both were running with Team for Kids (TFK). We met late in the season when I joined Kristin’s group for a 3-hour training run. It was early October, but it was hot; it hit 80 degrees early that morning! Kristin dubbed that run “The Death March.”  Bonding over misery, we became fast friends. Here are the highlights from my recent conversation with now new Flyer Kristin.

Kristin S.

Melissa: Hi Kristin! Where are you from? Are you a native New Yorker?

Kristin: I grew up in Wilmington, Delaware. After spending some time in Florida, I relocated to New York City for work about three and a half years ago. I always dreamed of working in NYC so when I received an offer with a full relocation opportunity, I grabbed it and ran (so to speak)! I’m a sanctions compliance advisor for a bank by day.

Melissa: Have you been a runner your whole life?

Kristin: I ran in high school but wasn't very good and just did it for fun. As an adult, I started running in 2008. My mom ran marathons, and when I wanted to get in shape, she suggested I give long distance running a try! Thanks Mom!

Melissa: Aside from the 2021 NYC Marathon, have you run other marathons?

Kristin: My mom and I ran Chicago in 2009, which was my first marathon. She wanted to run together and get a “holding hands” finish line picture! But, I was too nervous and persuaded her to start in her own corral which was ahead of mine. A few miles into the race, I regretted not starting together and looked for her the entire way!

 

It turned out that my athletic mom beat my time by more than 10 minutes!  She didn't go all the way through the finish chute in hopes of spotting me coming through, but there were so many people that we missed each other.  But, lots of other random runners received a hug from my mom after crossing the finish line as she got wrapped up in a complete finish line hug-fest!  I absolutely loved the Chicago Marathon. I was well trained and injury free.  We had ideal race day weather and most of all, I had my mom with me!  I felt great after the race and was eager to run another marathon. 

Chicago Marathon

My second marathon was not as pretty—the St. George Marathon in Utah in 2011. I was well trained and injury free for this one too but on race day, it reached over 90 degrees.  I felt awful and thought it was never going to end! I finished with a gnarly sunburn and vowed I would never run a marathon again. Famous last words. 

St. George Marathon

After St. George, I took a 10-year hiatus from running except for an occasional Turkey Trot race.   After moving to NYC, I was looking for ways to meet more people and decided a running group would be my best bet. I heard it was going to be the 50th anniversary of the NYC Marathon and Team for Kids (TFK) looked fun, so I signed up to fundraise and train with them.  At the first practice, everyone was talking about how excited they were to run. I decided not to mention that I didn’t actually like running and was just hoping to make some friends! 🤣 

Luckily, it didn’t take long for me to love running again.  I met so many wonderful people while training with TFK, including fellow New York Flyers and Thursday Night Fun (TNF) run friends Dave K and Carla M.  Race day weather was perfect and  I had both of my parents in the city cheering for me (they’re the best!). 

NYC Marathon 2021


Another highlight was that I got to meet and do a shake-out run with Meb before the marathon — I had always wanted to meet him and it was so much fun.

Melissa: When you’re not running, what do you do for cross-training?

Kristin: I’m a big fan of CrossFit because it's full-body functional strength training. The classes can be tough but similar to running, it’s always easier to suffer with friends! I love practicing the fun stuff like rope climbs and hand stand walks!

Melissa: Why did you join the NYF?

Kristin: After the NYC marathon, I was in group run withdrawal! Dave K told me about the New York Flyers, and he invited me to the Thursday night weekly 6:30 PM group run (aka TNF). Everyone was so welcoming, funny, and easy going — it was Flyers Love At First Sight 😍 for me and I joined the same night.

NY Flyers TNF 

At the TNF run, we catch-up on our week; Carla M. tells us funny work stories, Dave K. shares updates about his cats, Guy S. makes us laugh, and I usually spill my guts about whatever happened that week (Jeff Z. says it’s a safe place!). The TNF run provides fitness, friends, laughs and therapy… who knew?! 😉

Now I look forward to the TNF run every week. We have faster paced folks, a more “sexy pace” crew, and a run/walk group. There is truly a place and pace for everyone and nobody is left behind. I’m a big fan of running sexy pace on Thursdays.

The post-run social (with burgers, fries, and tater tots) is just an added perk! I also signed up for the Flyers SpeedPass program -- SpeedPass Coaches Amy and Jim rock my socks!

TNF Post Run Social

Recently, we brainstormed ideas for my blog post as I wasn’t sure what to write about. I thought maybe I should just write a Haiku about the TNF run. 😂 Though I was convinced to do a bit more than a Haiku.

I will leave you with this:

Thursday night fun run.

Round the park to All Stars Bar. 

Pass the tater tots.

-Kristin S.

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Dog Day Afternoon with Flyers 'n' Pups

Jo R.

What’s better than a run with a great group of New York Flyers? How about a run with the Flyers and their dogs? On Saturday May 9

Flyers With Their Dogs

The club held the second Flyers dog run and a lot of fun and wagging tails was had by all. 

Baily Says Hello!

My idea for the dog run came about after hearing so many Flyers talk about their dogs. Wouldn’t it be great to have a social informal run where the Flyers could meet with their dogs? 

To be honest, there really isn’t a lot of running happening at the dog run. But it’s a wonderful activity for the dogs and all involved. As the Flyers are great people, all participants have gentle dogs that play well together. 

Lexi Models Her Pink Coat

The best part of the dog run is spending time with the dogs and seeing them have such a happy time running and socializing together. It’s also interesting to finally get to meet all the dogs that we hear so much about on Facebook and social media. To see how big Chris and Beth Brennan’s Gus really is. Along with Ami Thakkar’s very cute Monte, who is the smaller dog of the group but very big on personality. 

After meeting Laura Smith-Sackler’s beautiful Jasmin you will understand why she was rescued from Central America. Roseline Buchwald has the most gorgeous white English Cream Golden Retriever. Yumi Morishige and Jennifer Coyne have lovely golden-doodles, Coco and Bailey that they also run with. Jeffrey Tente’s Olive is a social media star and when you meet her it’s easy to understand why. Lisa Konorty’s Lexi is so affectionate and gentle. 

We can’t wait to see all the dogs together again next time at the summer dog run!

Flyers 'n' Dogs :)

-Jo R.

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DEBS' Book Club -- Running to Read

Deb S and Debi U

We decided to start the Flyers book club during the 2019 Flyers elections event at Rosie O’Grady’s. 

Deb S had the idea and Debi U helped execute it. Our first book, Endure by Alex Hutchinson, became part of our original acronym DEBS – Debs’ Enduring Book Social which has now evolved into DEBS’.

It has been three years with a Covid hiatus in between. We have had meetings indoors, outdoors, and most recently on Zoom. While we enjoy seeing one another in person, Zoom provides us with the opportunity to have the author attend. This has been an exciting addition which happened by default due to Covid. 

The following list of books represents our journey leading the Flyers Book Club. Although the groups are usually small, we continue to offer titles as long as people show up! 

Here we are at our first session at Harvest Kitchen discussing the book, Endure, and of course eating, drinking and socializing.

Our next book was Let Your Mind Run by Deena Kastor, where we again met at Harvest Kitchen. Though the photo shows the author, we want to be clear that she did not attend our book club session. One of our goals is to have the opportunity to hold a discussion with an author in person! I (Debi U.) was drawn to this book after attending a talk given by Kastor at the marathon pavilion. My friends and I caught up with her and her daughter after her talk and she was friendly and personable. This enticed me to read her book even more.

Our first Zoom Session was with Matt Futterman, author of Running to the Edge. Deb S's son Deniz, is a friend of one of his neighbors. Because Deniz is a runner, his friend had Matt sign a book for him - and long story short, he agreed to participate in our group discussion.  Matt did an amazing job giving us a ton of background and behind the scene stories during his research for his book. And by the way, Matt runs a lot in Central Park so maybe some of you have seen him.

Our second zoom session was with Nita Sweeney, author of Depression Hates a Moving Target. Nita shared with us how she was able to work through her deep depression and become a runner and hasn’t stopped since. Her dog (on the cover) and her husband were key in supporting her. She joined a running group, has a blog and continues to write about topics pertaining to depression and mental health issues.

In the spring of 2021, we decided to meet in person at the outdoor café, Good Enough to Eat to discuss the book, I Hate Running and You Can Too. Notice all the copies of books and paper/pens making us look so studious. We most likely chose this book because of the humorous title. The author, Brendan Leonard, uses wisdom, humor, attitude, tips, quotes and charts illustrating how the sport of running can appear to be quite silly and irrational. But through his creative approach, he ultimately encourages others to start and/or continue running.

We took a chance with our next book by choosing a futuristic thriller about genetically designed elites verses the relegated poor living on the outskirts of society who are referred as “slummers.” This book, The Slummer: Quarters Till Death by Geoffrey Simpson, is about a runner living in the slums who rises to the occasion and earns the opportunity to compete in national championship races. It kept appearing on our FB feeds so we surrendered to it and we were pleasantly surprised! We had a wonderful discussion with the author learning how he developed the story and how much of it was based on his life and experiences in training for races he participated in during college. 

Most recently we had Dana Ayers, author of Confessions of an UnlikeMostly Runner, attend our Monday night group. This book, in particular touched many people because Dana, on several occasions in the discussion said she would not describe herself as an “athlete.” She was very humble and offered a fresh experience of her life as a runner.  We received such warm feedback from those who attended.  As the NYC Half was the day before our meeting, Dana said she would consider running it as she had run through a part of NYC on one of the last legs of a relay. Someone had the idea that she could offer to write a story on the experience in exchange for a bib.  Many listened to the book through audio, and Dana recorded her own voice making it more personal. Dana also shared how she recorded it – in a closet! Her sense of humor and lighthearted style emphasized the “fun” in running as many of us were able to relate to Dana in one way or another. I (Debi U.) was particularly drawn to this book. Since I run on the "slower side" there have been times that I don't always see myself as an "athlete." I was able to see and feel Dana's point of view and I was confident that I would find humor in this book. It did not disappoint!

Our next zoom session is on May 23rd to discuss the book, Silent Running: Our Family’s Journey to the Finish Line with Autism, with the author, Robyn Schneider. The author and her husband are the parents of identical twin boys who were diagnosed with autism. The family discovers running – for their sons and for themselves. This book shares their journey of being transformed and their triumph in the face of enormous hurdles.

This book is truly inspirational and we are excited to have Flyers and friends join us in our discussion with the author.

-Deb S. and Debi U.

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NYRR Newport 5K

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12 Flyers ventured across the Hudson this morning to run the second edition of the NYRR 5K in Jersey City. Congratulations to all!

Abraham Lee led the team in 19:16 and placed 7^th in his age group, with an age-graded percentage of 73.15%. John Whitfield came second in 19:46 and won his age group, scoring 81.85%. Tomohiro Inoue took the team's third place in 27:37. Special mention goes to Peter Lewy for placing 6^th in his age group.

The team included 3 Flyer women. Deborah Saat, the fastest of the 3, finished in 26:16, and won her age group (74.22%). Vivian Duran-Moy was second in 33:20 (6^thAG) and Wendy Mitchell was third in 35:43.

-Francesco P, NY Flyers Blog Race Reporter

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