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ATHLETE PROFILE: Emily Bryans Age:
33 |
||
For the Love of Running
If doing what you love is the secret to success, then Emily Bryans is well on her way. Emily's love of running has led to an impressive history of wins that reads like a "Who's Who" in Capital District road racing. But Emily prefers not to talk about that. Winning is simply a by-product of her passion.
For the record, Emily raced competitively 16 times last year with 12 wins, two second place titles and one third place title. With a time of 17:45, she also finished 36th at the Friehofer's Run for Women 5K National Championship on the morning of her wedding day.
 Emily running with her husband Vince Juliano Photo by Art Tetrault |
What's truly remarkable though isn't the fact that Emily has run away with so many titles, but that she continues to set new personal records (PRs) in nearly every race. She's off to a good start in 2001 with four wins and three new PRs already in tow. "I feel grateful for the times I've been able to run—and sometimes surprised by them," she says with a little chuckle.
In the Kingston Classic 10K last year she set a new PR of 36:55, only to break it at the Corning Cup 10K with a blistering time of 36:25. Tonya Dodge, who took 6th place in the 2000 Steeplechase National Championship, edged out Emily in that race. Later in the year, Emily shaved four seconds off her PR in the 5K when she was the first woman to cross the finish line at the Fiddlerís Run in 17:41.
Emily started running with her mother who, inspired by the legendary Olympic marathoners, Joan Benoit Samuelson and Grete Weitz, has gone on to run a few marathons herself. Emily recalls, "In the first race we ever ran together—it was the Peace Corps race in Syracuse—my mom and I were last. They had already taken down the chutes!"
But Emily was hooked on running. She joined the track and cross-country team in high school and also ran at Hartwick College where she was working toward her undergraduate degree in English. But during her sophomore year, between the demands of her academic schedule and a bout with tendinitis in her knee, Emily decided to give her running career a rest.
After graduation, Emily spent three years teaching English to middle and high schoolers in Springfield and then Pittsfield, Massachusetts. She is currently employed as a proofreader for Newkirk Products—a position that gives her more time and energy to devote to running. "As a teacher it was difficult to get in very many miles. I just didn't have the time necessary to give both teaching and running."
Emily typically runs about 40 miles weekly which includes two long runs of 10 miles each—one of which she uses for speedwork. "I run the hills hard," she says. "Some people tell me I should be doing more speedwork or more mileage, but I think you have to figure out what works for you."
On Sunday mornings, Emily frequently meets up with "the Willow Street gang" for a long run or a cross-country ski outing in the off-season. The "gang" is actually an informal group of runners from the Hudson-Mohawk Road Runners Club.
It was during one of these friendly outings that Emily met her current employers, Ray and Peter Newkirk, who share her love of running. Emily will race on Newkirk's Corporate Challenge team again this year; the women took second place last year. Newkirk Products is also sponsoring a USATF women's team which will compete in either the Freihofer's Run for Women or Bruegger's Bagel Run. (The vote is not in yet.)
Newkirk's leading
runner is also registered to run Vermont's Covered Bridges Half-Marathon
in June, and is contemplating running a fall marathon. "I've always
tended toward the longer distances," she says. "Now 5K is short
for me."
Though Emily loves racing, she's cautious about overtraining. "It's
not worth it for me to put my running at risk. I want to be able to run
for as long as I can."
Meanwhile, Emily humbly takes winning in stride. She can do that in good
conscience because when she toes the start line, her goal is not to win—but
to beat her own best times. The 33-year-old champ says, "I know that
eventually, my times wonít keep improving, and thatís okay."
Emily does recognize that her achievements would not be possible without the dedication of the running community. She admires how much runners are willing to give back to the sport. "I've met some really remarkable people in the running community," she says. Her husband is one of them. Last year, Emily married Vince Juliano who, in his spare time, is the race director for the venerable Stockade-athon 15K Race in Schenectady.
Vince is also Emily's biggest supporter and the first person she turns to when she's looking for running advice. "It's a continual process of figuring out what works," she says. And, as far as she's concerned, she gets all the advice she needs from the Newkirk brothers and other running buddies.
Whatever Emily is
doing, it's working. And she couldn't be happier. "I just feel my
best when I'm running," she says. So keep running, Emily. We'll be
right behind you.
Donna Smallin is
a freelance writer and fitness enthusiast who lives and runs in Lake Placid
where she also enjoys cycling, hiking, and cross-country skiing.
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