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 Heather Hanscom: Passion and Desire by George Banker November/December 2002 For the Washington Running Report
So many times the question is asked, "Why do you run?" There is
no universal answer; health and fitness, and the answer many
times is personal. Each person knows and at times it may be
difficult to capture the reason why. Part of the answer lies in
the amount of time and effort you put into your training. Heather Hanscom of Team Pacers of Old Town Alexandria (sponsored
by New Balance) is a 2001 graduate of James Madison University.
She made the Dean's List, majoring in health sciences with
minors in pre-medicine and health communications. "Running for the team is great. Last year the focus was for me
to stay healthy and they were concerned about that. The entire
team is supportive and we all want to do well. It's an
incredible overpowering feeling," said Hanscom. "The answer to the question, why do I run," Hanscom replied, "I
love to run everyday and to be competitive. You can't explain
why. I had it taken away from me so many times. It's not a
matter of whether I'll run everyday, it's when." Every runner you meet has a story to tell and some will reach
out and touch the heart and others will leave you speechless.
You cannot feel what another person feels unless you have been
in the same position, but you can imagine and you can understand
what motivates them to do what they do. Hanscom does bio-medical research (working with cells) for the
American Red Cross in Rockville, MD. "My co-workers are so
supportive, they want to know what I am doing with my running,"
stated Hanscom. "I've always run with my dad in Middle School. People say that
I'm hard on myself. I don't want to waste any time. I don't ever
want running to be taken away from me again," said Hanscom. In high school she was All-Cardinal District and All-Northeast
Region for three years. She was the district champion in 1600
meters indoors and outdoors and 3,200 meters outdoors as a
senior, and a state qualifier in 3,200 meter relay as junior. As
a sophomore and junior she was a member of the state champion
cross-country team. Everyone has a few days off from an injury and you adjust. What
happens when the days turn into weeks and then months? What
happens if the question comes up, will I ever be able to run
again? You get to a point where the running is not a sport but a
lifestyle and it's like breathing, it's automatic. According to Hanscom, "Running is something that impacts my life
everyday. I want people to know about it and what I have
overcome. At the same time I don't want people to think that I
use it as a crutch. October 5th is a "Big Day" for me. I've made
it 10 years and that's a big accomplishment." The
accomplishment: recovery from a brain tumor. The talk is casual but it's serious but it's something to be
lived with everyday and you don't act like it never happened.
Hansom knows why she runs because she learned when she could not
run. Listening to Hansom talk you realize it's not about winning
every race but you feel a sense of that passion and desire about
what she does and the mindset in which it is approached. Each
step is well thought-out. The time on the clock is an indicator
of the amount of effort expended and she knows when she gave all
that she could on a given day. Once the finish lined is reached,
you can't change the outcome but you plan for the next day. Determined! She added, "I lose my focus easily in a 5K. I break it down into
miles and what I need to do right now. Do I fight tooth and nail
and not think about the next mile? I'm frustrated that I'm not
running at the level that I want to be." When it comes to the competition, "I always go into a race with
the idea that I want to hit a certain time. I enjoy myself one
hundred percent when I am running hard and competing, passing
people. That's fun for me," said Hanscom. "If another person comes up, it gets your racing edge back. I
try to turn it over and it's discouraging if you can't go with
them. The faster my opponent runs, the fatser I will run. It's
nice to win every once in awhile. It's nice to get faster,"
added Hanscom. On the longer races, "I ran the Cherry Blossom this year, my
first ten miler and it was a shock, I've felt nothing else like
that. It was more like trying to run a pace than racing," sated
Hanscom. While in college, Hanscom said, "I was excited when I started my
big jump in college and progressed to staying up with the other
girls. When I finished eighth at the USA Track and Field
National Championship in February 2000, I ran as hard as I
could." At the Eastern College Athletic Conference Indoor Championship
in Boston (3/3/2001), Hanscom ran 16:52.23 and placed third,
which ranked as the third fastest time in the school history and
today it ranks fifth all-time best. During the senior season Hanscom was All-East (ECAC), indoor
5,000m, a NCAA provisional qualifier, outdoor 10,000m run in
34:48.64. Finalist, JMU Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. ECAC
qualifier in the indoor mile and 3,000m and 5,000m and the
outdoor 10,000m.
Some of her other performances include:
17th (35:58.74) Penn Relays (4/00) 11th (17:12.54) Raleigh Relays (3/00) 7th (9:59.15) 3,000-meter Run,at ECAC Championships, Boston, Mass (2/99) 1st (9:54.01) 3,000m Run,George Mason Collegiate Invitational, Fairfax, Va.(2/99) 21st (10:10.39) in 3,000m Run, Butler University Cannon IV Classic, Indianapolis, Ind. (2/99) 13th (10:11.93) 3,000m Run at Virginia Tech Pepsi Invitational, Blacksburg, Va. (1/99) 1st (5:07.66) 1 Mile Run (5:07.66) Bucknell Hershey's Invitational, Lewisburg, Pa. (1/99) 6th (17:45.8) 5,000m Run Navy Midnight Madness Invitational (12/98)
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