ATHLETE PROFILE: Cheng-hua Lee

Age: 32 Home: Albany, NY Occupation: Chemist Family: Hong-sheng (father), Sze-sue (mother), Cheng-shun (brother), Cheng-yuan (sister) Sports: Road biking, running, snowshoeing

An Athlete in Mind, Body, and Spirit

by Colleen Lovett

Cheng-hua Lee began running in the early winter of 2000 to cross-train for her then favorite sport of road biking. Only one month after starting she received a call from her friend Marion: Would Cheng mind running the first leg of a marathon relay in place of a teammate who had just fallen sick? Cheng was hesitant to compete in her first running race after such a short training period. “Don't expect me back anytime soon,” she told her teammates as she embarked on that first 7-mile leg of the relay held by the Hudson Mohawk Road Runners Club. But her team finished first in the “Three Female” category, and running soon became a permanent fixture on Cheng’s athletic resume.

“I didn’t really know how fast was fast,” says Cheng of her early running days. But her willingness to test her potential and to measure her success on her own terms brought her to the finish line of the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington in 3:47 in May 2001. In October 2002 she completed her second marathon, the Mohawk-Hudson River, in 3:46.

It was this same enterprising spirit that led Cheng from her native country of Taiwan to the United States. After graduating college in Taipei, and finding the job market for chemistry majors to be small, Cheng decided to expand her knowledge and professional training, and came here to pursue a master’s degree in chemistry at the State University at Albany. Coming to the United States was an adventure that Cheng embraced. Building on the classroom English she had since junior high, Cheng immersed herself in the English language and American culture by attending graduate classes in chemistry and by spending most Tuesday evenings with her friends watching English-speaking films at the Spectrum 7 movie theatre in Albany.

“Long-distance sports provide me with
the opportunity to meditate on nature,
on my thoughts, or simply on the road
in front of me. It refreshes my spirit.”

While studying chemistry at UAlbany, Cheng also expanded her social horizons outside of her immediate circle of friends in the Taiwanese student club. Part of this was her “coming out” as a gay woman. Although Taiwanese culture does not explicitly condemn homosexuality, there is a definite “don’t ask, don’t tell” attitude that prevents most gay men and women from openly expressing themselves as such. Cheng found the cultural climate in America to be much more accepting, and with inner strength and self-knowledge as her guide, she made the decision to be openly gay.

As a student, Asian woman and lesbian, Cheng discovered a variety of student organizations she could join, all with varying agendas such as women’s issues, Asian culture, social activism, and gay rights. In 1998, Cheng found her niche in Two Rivers, an outdoor sports club for gay, lesbian, and transgendered people in the Capital Region. “Many people hold the stereotype that being gay means you party all the time,” says Cheng. But Two Rivers allowed Cheng to meet people in a context that combined the physical challenge of outdoor sports with the chance to socialize and have fun.

Back in Taiwan, Cheng’s athletic life rarely went farther than the high school basketball team and throwing darts with her college friends. With Two Rivers, Cheng came into her own as an athlete. In the spring of 1998, the Two Rivers newsletter announced a 25-mile training ride in preparation for the annual Boston to Provincetown Ride, a daylong 125-mile bike tour held every June. Cheng did the training ride, her first long ride, on a used Huffy mountain bike. “I finished it and almost died, but I enjoyed it very much,” Cheng says.

Cheng wasn’t ready for the Boston to P-town Ride just then, but started to search for a better bike and began to ride regularly. Later that year she completed her first century (a one-day, 100-mile bicycle tour) held by the Mohawk Hudson Cycling Club, and has completed it every year since. In the summer of 2001, Cheng did her first short bike race with the Capital Bicycle Racing Club, completing an 11-mile time trial in 32:20.

Finishing the Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon.

Cheng’s dedication to training and goal setting has helped her achieve much in a short time. But the key to her success is her attitude. Recalling some early running advice she received, Cheng says, “As a second tier runner, on a good day you can place. On other days you just enjoy running with the crowd.” Cheng prefers not to be in constant pursuit of her next race, and enjoys running and biking because “they bring out the best in myself.”

Cheng’s approach to athletics melds seamlessly with her personal values and her spiritual outlook on life, she says. As a Buddhist and environmentalist, Cheng sees running and road biking as having a low impact on the environment. Moreover, says Cheng, “Long-distance sports provide me with the opportunity to meditate on nature, on my thoughts, or simply on the road in front of me. It refreshes my spirit.”

Part of Cheng’s spirituality is the responsibility she feels toward the community that has nurtured her as an athlete and an individual. While studying and since completing her M.S. in chemistry in 2001, Cheng has expressed a strong volunteer ethic in her life: She participates in the American Lung Association’s charity bike rides, distributes copies of Adirondack Sports & Fitness and is a weekly member worker at the Honest Weight Food Coop in Albany. At the Two Rivers planning meeting this December, Cheng will organize members for a marathon or triathlon relay, and says she hopes to encourage first-time athletes “to get involved and have a feeling of accomplishment.”

One of Cheng’s goals for the future is to run a marathon in Taiwan some day. Cheng stays in touch with friends and family who update her on race conditions whenever a marathon occurs. While Cheng says her ties to her community in Albany are strong, she adds, “I love my country, and I will always remember that I am Taiwanese.” For now, however, Cheng’s current goal is simply “to stay healthy and injury-free” and to maintain her current performance level.

Colleen Lovett (clovett@IASystems.com) lives with her family in Niskayuna and works as a systems analyst in New York’s Tech Valley. In her spare time she enjoys hiking and camping in the Adirondacks. Colleen also practices yoga at the Albany Kripalu Yoga Center