Adirondack Sports June 2024

JUNE 2024 29
◀ DELIGHTFUL
RUN FOR WOMEN.
by senior year of high school, so the Marist
coaches were interested. By junior year of
college, she was able to garner scholarship
money in both. Balancing two sports
wasn’t easy, but Lisa believes it helped
keep her mostly injury free and mentally
strong in college. She shares, “I recognize
that there is so much pressure (now more
than ever before) to run fast in high school
to win scholarships to good schools, but I
wish more coaches (and parents) of teenagers
looked at the big picture, which is
that these are still young, developing athletes
(physically and mentally) and we
want to set them up for long-term success
in their sport.” Both rowing and running
are lifelong sports. Being smart early on
can reap big rewards later!
As her running and rowing improved
in college, her rowing coach, Kelly Harris,
suggested she apply to a National Team
Development camp. She did and was
accepted. She rowed for the New York
Athletic Club in the summer of 2006 and
then moved up and west to train at the
Pocock Rowing Center in Seattle, Wash.
Lisa tells it better, “I got the opportunity
to row for the NYAC, but I had to learn how
to scull (rowing with two oars, the only
type of rowing available to lightweight
women at the elite level) after only ever
sweep rowing with one oar in high school
and college. The transition to sculling
was painful, figuratively and literally. The
technique did not come naturally – sculling
requires significantly more finesse and
hand control.
"I remember calling home in tears,
telling my parents just how bad I was.
My dad calmly reminded me that anytime
you want to go to the next level, you
start at the bottom of that level and must
work yourself up. It was a really humbling
experience, but by the end of that summer
I was a member of two boats that won gold
medals at the Canadian Henley regatta, an
extremely competitive event for rowers of
all ages,” says Lisa.
"The following summer, I was invited
to a more competitive camp at Pocock
Rowing Center in Seattle and competed
against a dozen other women for a spot in
the U23 lightweight double selected by the
camp. The top rower, Kristin Hedstrom,
easily stood out, and it ended up coming
down to me and one other rower for the
other spot. I didn’t get it but was so proud
to have made it as one of the finalists. Not
to mention, I still had one more year of
U23 eligibility. I spent the next 12 months
– my senior year of college – devoted to
the goal of making the 2008 lightweight
double. Despite a rib injury, I was selected
along with Kristin, who four years later
rowed in the London Olympics.” She and
Kristin placed 12th at the 2008 Under
23 World Championships after rowing
together for just seven weeks,” added Lisa.
Was the Senior National team in her
future? She just had one big hurdle to
◀ GUINESS WORLD
RECORD DOUBLE-
STROLLER MILE
ATTEMPT. LIAM CAHILL
clear. (Side note: Lisa decided in March of
her senior year of high school to learn hurdles
and try to get to NYS Championships
in May in the 400 hurdles – she did it!) “A
vicious case of mononucleosis knocked
me flat for months,” she laments, “as my
college supervisor told me in his caring
way, ‘now you see what happens when
you burn the candle at both ends.’” Lisa
battled mono for most of her graduate year
at Marist. Regaining her health became
the priority along with starting her career
– as an elementary teacher. Just two years
later she found herself training for the
NYC Marathon with friends from Albany
Running Exchange. Around the same time,
she got back into rowing. After dating RPI
grad student and track & field “thrower,”
Lance Chase, she took a break from rowing…
to plan a wedding! A return to rowing
came in 2018 after having her daughter
and not being able to run! A body in motion
really does like to remain in motion.
Last fall, you might have heard that a
runner was trying to set a Guinness World
Record pushing a jogging stroller on the
track with her child. Last Thanksgiving,
Lisa came up with the idea of going for
the record as she pushed her two kids in
the Bethlehem Turkey Trot. She had read
about stroller miles and thought if she
could push her kids (Addie, 6, and Will,
4) – combining with the stroller for over
130 pounds – for seven-minute miles on a
hilly 5K course maybe she could attempt
a double-stroller record. A little research
revealed that the single-stroller mile
record was 5:11, but there was no double-stroller
record.
Guinness set a minimum bar of 12
minutes. Lisa set a goal of a six-minute
mile. Coach Dick Vincent jumped at the
chance to write workouts and ARE’s Josh
Merlis oversaw the timing. Lisa says, “I
tried to run at least once per week pushing
the kids, and as we got closer, did more
workouts on the track with them. I did a
trial at the end of April and ran 6:05, so felt
that sub-six was within reach. Still, I was
surprised to be so far under at the actual
event in May, finishing in 5:48.84.” She
continued, “This was in large part, I’d say,
due to the many runners who showed up
to cheer for me (Dick had gotten the word
out). I was very touched that people would
take time out of their busy day to support
me in this wacky goal of mine. I sent all the
evidence to Guinness, and they replied
saying they will let me know in the next
12 weeks if it was accepted. I sure hope I
followed all their rules perfectly because
we’re ready to retire the double-stroller
after the Route 50 Mile race this month!”
This isn’t the last we will hear of Lisa’s
athletic accomplishments. She and her
husband Lance hope to coach track &
field together at some point. Hopefully
sooner rather than later for the benefit of
the young athletes in the Capital Region.
Kristen Hislop (hislopcoaching@gmail.com)
is a USA Triathlon and Ironman U coach,
and race director for the Delightful Run
for Women (formerly Freihofer’s). The
Hislop Coaching motto is “Do–Believe–
Achieve” because she feels everyone is
destined for greatness. She is a proud
mother to two boys who run in college
and her husband completed his first 70.3
triathlon in 2023.