Adirondack Sports December 2023

DECEMBER 2023 15
■ MARBRY WITH
MARYANN LANSING.
ATHLETE PROFILE
Marbry
Gansle
AGE: 68
FAMILY: Husband, Steve; Daughter, Ashley
RESIDENCE: Newtonville (summer);
Florida (winter)
HOMETOWN: Old Chatham
■ ASHLEY, MARBRY AND STEVE.
CAREER: Retired physical education teacher
and varsity coach at Shaker High School
for cross country, gymnastics, outdoor
track & field; high school and USATF official
■ LEADING THE RACE
AT THE ARMORY.
By Kristen Hislop
“Those who can, do; those who can’t,
teach.” – George Bernard Shaw, 1905 play,
Man and Superman
We all know that is a fallacy, read on for proof.
According to Barbara (Bobbi) Palma, who brought
many women’s sports programs/teams to the Capital
Region, Marbry Gansle was a world class runner. Bobbi
notes, “she had incredible determination plus talent to
go far. She always exuded joy with a big smile.” For reference
understanding great talent, Bobbi also coached
Joan Benoit Samuelson early in her career.
Just a few years back Marbry raced head-to-head against
Francie Larrieu-Smith, veteran of five Olympic teams and
co-winner of the 1985 Freihofer’s Run for Women 10K.
Marbry raced the 800 against Doris Brown Heritage. For
context, in 1966 Doris became the first woman to run a subfive-minute
mile indoors, clocking 4:52. By the following
year, she began her string of five world cross country championships.
Bobbi took Marbry under her wing, providing
training and accompanying her to meets. A first airplane
ride, Junior Nationals in Ohio beating Mary Decker (now
Slaney), then Nationals in Albuquerque, New Mexico and
California. Her best finish was 27th in Nationals, just missing
the international team by two places. Bobbi told me at
the 2023 USATF national meeting that Marbry would have
made the international team.
In the 70s there was no funding for women’s sports, so
Bobbi’s girls paid for their races and travel via fundraising
with candy sales. Bobbi shared a story of being on the NYS
Thruway in bad weather. They and many other cars were
stopped and semi stranded. Marbry took advantage of the
situation by jumping out of the car and selling candy to
other motorists!
Let’s take a step back. Growing up on a dairy farm
in Old Chatham, Marbry was no stranger to hard work
and pushing her body. Sports were a draw in part due to
Mr. Lambert, her elementary physical education teacher.
Knowing she wanted to teach, she played every sport in
high school – four years of varsity basketball, varsity gymnastics,
three years of varsity track, one year of softball,
one year of volleyball, and one season of cheerleading. “I
did every sport that we had. I wanted to experience what
we had to become a well-rounded PE student. In college,
I commuted an hour each way before I-90 was completed,
so no sports except for running. My last two years, when
I lived on campus at Russell Sage College, I did play field
hockey and lacrosse. There was no track team at Russell
Sage College, but senior year, Russell Sage College let me
attend a meet at SUNYA (now UAlbany) as an individual,”
says Marbry.
Her running career started in ninth grade on the girls
track team at Chatham. At the time the longest race for
girls was the half-mile (800 meters). Marbry wanted to do
the 800, but her coach put her in the 100 because she was
“short.” “I’ll never forget it and jogging around the track
one day for warm up, the girl that was in the 800 was upset
she didn’t want to run it. I said I’ll run it, please go tell
coach. I ran the 800 and broke the school record the first
time out on that horrible oval track” recalls Marbry. It was
See ATHLETE PROFILE 17 ▶