Interview with Kelley Hess
Kelley was the top Madison female finisher at this year's Boston Marathon. In her first marathon, with the temperature hovering around 95 degrees, Kelley ran and won the 2006 Madison Marathon. She is a former varisty soccer player at Cornell University and is currently a graduate student in astronomy at UW.
When/how/why did you start running?
I started running cross country in high school to stay in shape for soccer. I turned out to be pretty good so I joined the track team as well. I played varsity soccer in college, but started running again in grad school because I didn’t have a soccer team to play on and I wanted something competitive that I could focus on—I felt a little lost, or at least very antsy if I didn’t have a definite goal to work towards. Running road races, 5 and 10 K’s, gave me something to work for when I went on my daily run.
First, I run because it helps me to clear my mind and escape from school work and other stress. Going out for a run can help me keep, or put the rest of life back in perspective. But I also run because I love to race!—either against others, or against myself and the clock.
When did you run your first marathon? How did it go?
My first and, until last weekend, only marathon was the Mad City Marathon in 2006—the one everyone remembers as heating up to ~95 degrees. It went pretty well. I ran 3:24 which was good enough to be the overall women’s champion. It was also the slowest winning time in the marathon’s 26(?) year history! But this is definitely where I caught the marathon bug.
Were you happy with how the Boston Marathon went?
You bet! This was my second attempt at Boston. My first was thwarted by a stress fracture last March. That was healed by last August, but even up until ~2-3 weeks before Boston I was dealing with leg/ankle/foot issues. This Spring I had to cut back the training to running 3 times a week, but was supplementing that with lots of cycling training, and racing. As a result, I’ve become a HUGE proponent of cross-training: on some level any kind of endurance training: anaerobic or aerobic is interchangeable—running, biking, or swimming! <Stepping off the soap box...>
However, as a result of my new (to me), unorthodox training, I really had no idea how I would do at Boston—I had no sense for where I was. My longest run was only 12.5 miles (as opposed to the recommended 18-20). What may have saved me was the UW cycling team’s Spring Break training camp where I got in a few 5 hour rides. They were as good for the mental aspect of a long race as they were for the physical challenge. My friend, Rebecca, and I decided we’d stick together for the first half of the marathon and try to run 7:30/mile. This sounded okay when I thought about it mile-by-mile, but sounded quite daunting when I thought about the cumulative time (3:16). We went out a bit faster than 7:30’s, but were feeling really good. In fact, we kept a really steady pace the whole time; we were able to chat a bit and encourage one another. We stuck together through mile 20+ and the bottom of Heartbreak Hill, where we split up, but we were both able to pick up the pace again in the last several miles into Boston, and finish the race—easily the toughest marathon course either of us have run—with PRs!
Do any moments from Boston stick out as especially memorable?
That’s a tough question. There were quite a few memorable, or amusing moments from Boston—it was a fun race. But those moments that stick out the most were when I passed my friends and family who were in the crowd cheering. The last mile went by really fast, but it was also one of the most satisfying because I knew I’d finally conquered something that had been the root of a lot of frustration and tears over the last year—and I knew I had raced better than I could have anticipated.
What would you say has been your best running moment so far?
There are a couple important races from high school that I like to look back on because I won despite being the underdog. But those seem like a long time ago, and my peak years are supposed to be ahead of me, so I don’t like to dwell on those as my best. I don’t think there’s any one moment... but having a motorcycle escort for the last two miles of Mad City was really cool. Boston this year is probably my biggest accomplishment, but given my limited training going into it, how well I actually did, and how I felt afterward, I know that I can run a lot faster—my best running moment is still in my future.
What race are you planning on running next?
In August, I’m competing with 11 other amazing women in a 197 mile relay race in Oregon called Hood-to-Coast. Thinking about the running friends we knew, a friend of mine and I came up with the idea of creating an all-women, (nearly) all-scientist team, called “Girls Heart Rockets”. (I’m an astronomer; she’s a physicist.) Last year 8 team members ran the 80 mile River-to-River Relay in southern Illinois and placed 2nd in the all-women’s division.
I haven’t figured out what my next marathon is, although Rebecca and I are planning on doing Chicago in 2009—it’s a flat course with the potential for some very fast times.
In the meantime this summer, I’m interested in checking out the triathlon scene (I’m always looking for suggestions and advice on this stuff!), and I plan on riding in a lot of the Wisc Cycling Assoc (WCA) races. I’ve been told I have some potential as a cyclist too.
Where’s your favorite place to run in Madison?
Any bike path, or trail I can find—especially around the lakes or through the arb. I love hills, so if I can find one on my route, I’ll do it!