A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

Paul Long: Local runners featured on Inside Northern Kentucky KET episode about marathons, dedication


Runners with a purpose -- Pictures from the INK video

Runners with a purpose — Pictures from the INK video

Emily Leising swears it was an accident.

Her goal was simple — to run one marathon per month in 2016. For an accomplished long distance runner with many marathons under her belt, another 12 in 2016 would be a challenge, but certainly not an impossibility.

Then Leising started signing up. April: Definitely the Derby Marathon down in Louisville. It’s close by and fun. May: What else but the hometown Flying Pig?

Emily Leising -- two marathons back to back?!

Emily Leising — two marathons back to back?!

Except she didn’t notice a slight problem. The Derby Marathon is scheduled for Saturday, April 30. The Flying Pig is Sunday, May 1. While one marathon a month could be achieved, how about two in a weekend?

But instead of pointing and laughing at her — well, perhaps in addition to pointing and laughing at her — her friends and running partners in the Pain By Numbers running group turned around and signed up for both races, joining her for the 50-mile-plus weekend.

“So I signed up for it accidentally,” Leising said in an interview on Inside Northern Kentucky for a new episode that will air beginning next weekend on KET. “Everyone else did it on purpose.”

The segment explores some of the running community in Northern Kentucky, particularly PBN, an unofficial, free, and open running group that holds daily and weekly runs throughout the area.

Leising figures the two races combined will mean about between 8-8½ hours of running that weekend. “I’m going to have a good support group running it with me, so it’s going to be a lot easier,” she said of her running partners, explained why she is a member of the group.

He's running for mom, Jackie, aiming to find a cure for Alzheimers

He’s running for mom, Jackie, aiming to find a cure for Alzheimers

That’s the point of the group, always welcoming to new members, said Jim White, who puts together the Friday fun run offering, which often features a tour of a community and a history lesson.

“As a group, we share the pain” and the accomplishments, he said. “When you look back at things, the pain you don’t remember, but you remember the fun and the excitement you had together.”

In addition to the segment on Northern Kentucky runners, the INK program also features an update on the building of the ark at the Ark Encounter theme park in Williamstown, a profile of the VonLehman CPA firm in Fort Mitchell, and a review of the Willis Graves Bed & Breakfast in Burlington.

Paul Long

Paul Long

Inside Northern Kentucky highlights stories from the top of Kentucky — stories about its people, culture, array of living, working, and cultural opportunities, its robust economy, colorful history, unique destinations, quirkiness, challenges, and more. It airs on KET, and is a production of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism, the nonprofit publisher of the NKyTribune.

The monthly program is the first on KET, Kentucky’s statewide educational television network, to focus exclusively on Northern Kentucky.

The segment on runners also interviews Steve Schwalbach of Fort Thomas about the ultra running and fundraising he has been doing over the past several years. Schwalbach, whose mother Jackie died from Alzheimer’s Disease a few years ago, has been using his running talent to raise money to fund a cure for the disease.

In 2014, he ran the Commonwealth of Kentucky from its southern edge up to Northern Kentucky. The following year, he added the state of Ohio to his list, running from the Cleveland area to Cincinnati, before ending back in his hometown. This year, he ran across Florida, from Daytona to Sarasota.

Thus far, he had raised $35,000 for Alzheimer’s research. When the money from Florida comes in, he hopes that figure will be closer to $50,000.

Asked during the segment if his goal was to run through every state, he shook his head. His end result, he said, is to find a cure for Alzheimer’s.

Paul Long writes weekly for the NKyTribune about running and runners. For his daily running stories, follow him at dailymile.com or on Twitter @Pogue57

The day of the show's taping didn't offer the best weather -- but this dedicated runners persevered.

The day of the show’s taping didn’t offer the best weather — but these dedicated runners persevered.

schedule


Related Posts

Leave a Comment