NAME: Morgan Wasikonis
EMAIL ADDRESS: mortaymat5@aol.com
BIRTH-DATE: 6/3/69
HOMETOWN (ORIGINALLY): Hammondsport, NY (tiny town in the
heart of winecountry on Keuka Lake)
WHERE I LIVE NOW: State College
WHAT I DO IN LIFE AS WE KNOW IT: Stay-at-home-mom
NON-RUNNING HOBBIES OR INTERESTS: With two small children,
I am lucky to have running as a hobby.
A FAVORITE BOOK, MOVIE, TV OR RADIO SHOW: All time favorite
TV show-Seinfeld (I really miss it); Movie: The Graduate
IF I COULD PICK MY OWN NICKNAME: I'm sitting here thinking
about this one and staring at my answer to the previous question.
The best part about Seinfeld was that I could really relate to Elaine.
The same things that
bugged her bother me and even though I don't usually react the same
way, I always wish I could get away with acting the way she does in the
show. So I was thinking about how Elaine might not be such a bad
nickname and then I heard "Elaaaaaine...." in my head and remembered Dustin
Hoffman's character screaming it at the end of The Graduate--so I guess
that's it.
I STARTED RUNNING (WHEN, WHERE, HOW...): I started running when
I was twelve because my brother ran and I wanted to be part of the action.
I ran through high school then stopped for over eleven years. I started
running again in June 1998.
AVERAGE MILES PER WEEK: about 30-35. Varies greatly
depending on where I am in marathon training.
A TYPICAL TRAINING WEEK: Right now- 5 days a week with
a long run on the weekend 10-20 miles. On the other days- 4-8 miles
per day on average with speed work on one of the days and some other hard
effort (hills, tempo, etc.) on another day.
PREFERRED RACE OR RACING DISTANCE: Still exploring that-I think
maybe half marathon will be my favorite. I thought I was pretty good
at marathon running through about 15 miles of my first marathon in Pittsburgh
in May 1998.
NUMBER OF RACES PER YEAR: 7-10.
A GOOD 10K TIME FOR ME WOULD BE: Right now my best is 43:01
(very long term goal is to break 40)
WHY I RUN: Stress relief; time to myself; time to be around
other adults; feel good about myself emotionally and physically; to have
a goal, work toward it, and achieve it; and most importantly because it's
fun.
PEOPLE MIGHT BE SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT: I was the
only person (male or female) on the cross country "team" my Junior year
in high school. I started running invitationals as an independent
after muddling through a lot of bureaucracy. The next year my brother,
myself, and another boy and another girl ran. Two seasons after that,
the full boys team made it to States in Class C in New York--this was the
first time there even was a cross country team in my school, as far as
I know.
I have a lot of respect for kids who run on their own like I did, but
I do feel like I missed out a little on the team spirit!
submitted July 1999
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