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Running a marathon was one of the items on Lisa Joaquim's "bucket list." She's doing it in perhaps the best one of them all.
The Fairfield woman will run the Boston Marathon next Monday, her first attempt at the 26.2 mile distance. Normally, runners need to qualify for Boston. Joaquim is running for a charity, the Connecticut Challenge, and did not need to meet qualifying criteria. She found out in January that the organization had spots available for its charity team. She had been considering running the New York City Marathon for charity anyway. The chance to run at Boston was too good to pass up.
"I felt like I was working a lot and not training,'' says Joaquim, who owns the Trek Bicycle Store in Fairfield. "I really wanted to challenge myself and step up my training." (Readers can visit Joaquim's fundraising page at TeamCTChallenge.)
Cycling is Joaquim's first love. While attending college at the University of Arizona, she rode her bike to classes. In her senior year, she dropped out to work in a bicycle shop and start a new career path. She eventually got a job with Trek and has owned the store for three years.
She still rides frequently. Running, however, provides a new challenge. "I liken it to splitting logs,'' says Joaquim, who goes by the nickname "Lou." "It felt like someone was taking a hammer to my legs every day."
Running while trying to operate a retail business is also tricky. The hours are demanding, and there are infrequent breaks during the day. Training for a marathon is hard. It's even harder when a runner has to stand all day on the job.
Joaquim did train with a group of runners from Connecticut Challenge who worked with Jean Paul Desrosiers, the owner of Sherpa Fitness in Westport. "I couldn't keep up with anybody in the group.'' Joaquim said. "They were running seven or eight minute miles and I was running 10 or 11. I would see them for the first four or five minutes."
Her Boston goal is to finish somewhere between "Oprah and Katie." Oprah Winfrey ran the Marine Corps Marathon in 1994 in 4:29.20. Holmes finished the ING New York City Marathon in 2009 in 5:29:58. "I'm trying to beat Oprah,'' Joaquim says. "If I come in before her or between those two, it will be okay."
Do you think Lisa Joaquim can beat Oprah? Start the discussion below!
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