NEW CANAAN, Conn. Melissa Cutlers legs carried with her elegance and grace on the dance stage throughout her college years. Now, the New Canaan mother of four uses those same legs to compete on a far different stage.
Cutler will run her first New York City Marathon, and 11th overall, on Nov. 6. Her last marathon came on Oct. 1, when she ran 3:24:50 in St. George, Utah. She is running in New York with her husband, Scott.
Weve runs races together, but weve never run the whole thing together, Melissa said. This time were committed to doing it together. I told him I just finished a marathon a couple of weeks ago. Youre not leaving me.
Cutler ran in Utah with the goal of setting a personal best. She ran 3:19:54 in that race last year, and hoped to improve this time around. Its a wide-open course, youre running through mountains, and I feel good when Im there, Cutler said. This time, I felt awful from the third mile on. Thats whats so fascinating about the marathon. Its such a complex beast.
She had already committed to running the race in Utah when she and Scott got into New York through the lottery. She says that she will run for enjoyment, without pressure of running for a specific time because she has already qualified for next years Boston Marathon.
I love New York City, Melissa said. It is the pinnacle of marathons. If someone asks you about marathons, they always ask if youve run New York or Boston.
She expects New York to feel much different from Boston, which she has run three times. In Boston, there are a lot of fast runners, a lot of competition, Cutler said. New York has more of a feeling attached to it. There are a lot of runners doing it for charity, theres a reason for doing it besides competition. Theres a lot of emotion attached to it.
Cutler didnt start running until she was 24, when she hung up her dancing shoes for good. Now shes a strong contender in her age group at many of the races in which she competes. Cutler finished ninth among women and third in her age group in the Sam Elpern Half Marathon in Norwalk in September. Thats quite an accomplishment for a busy mom who devotes her weekends to activities with her children, who range in age from 4 to 11.
My brother says I love pain, she said. When I started, I wanted to see if I could do it. Its such a challenge mentally and physically. Ive become attached to the whole process.
To view more runners from Main Street Connect communities running in the New York City Marathon, visit our other websites in Fairfield County.
Click here to follow Daily Voice and receive free news updates.
