Local Woman Going the Distance in New York Marathon

Fremont, CA, July 24, 2016—One morning two years ago Michelle Carvellas woke up with a question: “I wondered why I had always hated running.” More than a hundred races later, Michelle is preparing to run the New York City Marathon on November 6^th.

The Fremont-based residential community manager has lived with her husband in the Bay Area since 2005 and will be one of nearly 50,000 runners hitting the streets of New York, many of whom are fundraising, including Michelle. Her chosen charity is Team for Kids, a team of adult runners who raise funds for services provided by the New York Road Runners (NYRR) youth programs. NYRR serves more than 200,000 youth locally and nationally and seeks to “improve community health by championing a lifelong commitment to running.”

The biggest challenge Michelle faces, however, is not fundraising—she has met $2100 of her $2600 goal—but her diagnosis of fibromyalgia. A few years ago she was biking about a hundred miles a week, and for two years played water polo at El Camino College in Torrance “with girls half my age,” she says. Running should have been just one more sport; instead, it has become a lifeline to her physical and mental health. “It makes me happy,” says Michelle. The exercise, fresh air, and beneficial weight loss (from 260 ounds a year ago to a healthy 190 now) keep the fibro at bay.

Michelle chose to run the New York Marathon because she believes in dreaming big. “I’ve run dozens of 10k’s and half-marathons, but since I’m not sure I’ll run more than one,” she says, “I figured I’d make it one to remember.” The New York City Marathon was organized in 1970 by Fred Lebow and Vince Chiapetta. Run at that time entirely within Central park, only 55 of the 127 men who started actually finished. Since then, annual participation reaches nearly 50,000. The 26.2 mile race has hosted many exciting record finishes, including NCAA champion Alberto Salazar’s 1980 2:09:41 time, the fastest debut for an American to that time. Moreover, in 2001, only two months after September 11, the race “became a symbol of hope and renewal,” according to www.tcsnycmarathon.org, “for participants, spectators and all New Yorkers” as thousands came together to cheer on the racers and witness American runner Deena Drossin win the national title in the fastest debut by an American woman with a time of 2:26:58.

Michelle anticipates that she will finish the race in about five-and-a-half hours, a 13 minute per mile pace. Compared to last year’ winning women’s time, set by Kenya’s Mary Keitany, of 2:24:25, that might seem long, but Michelle will be focusing on consistency in her technique, using what is known as “interval running.” “I run 40 seconds and walk 30,” says Michelle. “It’s becoming a very popular way to run for people who want to do the distance, but who might have breathing, knee, or other concerns holding them back.” The leading advocate of the “Run Walk Run” method is running trainer Jeff Galloway. Galloway owned Phidippides running store back in the 1970s, and found that non-runners just getting into the sport, or former runners returning to it, “looked forward to each run because of the improved attitude during and afterward.” Galloway claims, and statistics seem to support, that the “Run Walk Run” method substantially reduces running injuries.

Michelle keeps a busy schedule, with about eight races scheduled around California, including the San Francisco Half-Marathon on July 31^st, prior to New York. A positive, goal-oriented person, Michelle knows that running isn’t for everybody, still, for those who might be on the fence, “just go for it,” she says, “you might be surprised.”

For information about the New York Roadrunner youth programs, go to http://www.nyrr.org/youth-and-schools

For information about donating go to https://www.runwithtfk.org/Profile/PublicPage/31056

See Jeff Galloway’s page at http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/run-walk/