Story In The Spectrum Newspaper

This story ran in The Spectrum newspaper on Saturday. I appreciate reporter Patrice St. Germain bringing more attention to running. Here is her story:

Group finds fun, support in club

HURRICANE - When Cory Reese set a goal to run in the St. George Marathon, one of the things he decided to do was join a runner's group.

Reese, Hurricane, said he may have been able to train on his own, but it would have been a lot more difficult.

Since December, he has been training with the Hurricane Runners' Club and said the people behind the formation of the group, Tom and Elizabeth Dansie, are excellent coaches and motivators.

"They (the Dansies) have been running for so long, and they have helped me out and provided support," Reese said.

Elizabeth Dansie said the group started last winter with an affiliation with Classic Sports and Over the Edge for runners and triathletes, but the group is a little less formal than originally planned.

"Anybody is welcome," Tom Dansie said. "We have workouts two to four times a week."
Reese is right about the experience that the young couple with three children have. Tom has been running since he was young and more formally since high school. He has run the St. George Marathon a few times and, most recently, the Boston Marathon.

Elizabeth has also been running since high school and ran in the Boston Marathon, coming in with a time 10 minutes over her St. George Marathon run.

She's also a triathlete and hopes to compete in an Ironman competition once her children, Porter, 6, Eliza, 5 and James 18 months, are all in school.

Knowing that workouts are important and having support is helpful. Elizabeth keeps up with the group's blog and posts workouts weekly.

Even though he's been working out since December, Reese said he has to work to make his body get up early or go out late at night to run. Tom and Elizabeth also said it's still a struggle to get out for workouts but both admit that if they miss a workout, they know it. "It's a stress reliever," Tom said.

Tom said he knows when he has missed a workout and, laughing, Elizabeth said she knows when her husband has missed one as well.

Elizabeth said she is obsessed with working out, and Reese said likes the challenge and feeling of accomplishment.

While Elizabeth said she dreads the long runs up to two weeks before the event, she loves the track workouts; Reese said he likes the longer runs.

"My moment of glory was keeping up with Liz for one lap," Reese said. "She (Liz) makes it look easy, but I saw my life flash before my eyes."

Tom and Elizabeth said the group isn't just for experienced runners, and the key is working together and gaining experience from others in the group.

In the couple's neighborhood, where Reese also lives, quite a few people run. "It's like this neighborhood HOA rules say you have to run," Reese said with a laugh. "But it's great to have so many."

The Dansies' love of running has already rubbed off on their son Porter, who plans on running in the kid run at the Washington County Fair and wants to beat his time from last year. The group also will have a 5K run on July 24 in Hurricane, which is how many people get interested in running - by participating in fun runs.

"Once you do the first race, you're hooked," Tom Dansie said.