Salem, Oregon's
Running & Walking Club Site
Home of
Willamette Valley Road Runners (WVRR)
www.WVRoadrunners.org.

A Profile by Raille Wilson

My life as a runner has no definitive starting line. When I was a little kid, I ran for the pure joy and exhilaration of feeling the wind in my face and the moving ground under my feet. There were no thoughts or concerns of how far, how fast, or how long I ran. I just ran.

As I entered my teenage years, I no longer ran for fun, I ran for a purpose. It was something to do to keep in shape for football season. Even when I joined the track team in my junior year of high school, running still had a purpose beyond just the joys of running. This continued for many years, which resulted in the typical on again, off again pattern of starting and stopping a running program.

It wasn't until one day in February 2001 when a co-worker, after noticing that I ran on a somewhat regular basis at lunch, asked if I ever ran in any fun runs or races. I told her I had always thought that road racing was for the elite runners and college level athletes. She set me straight and so I entered a race a couple weeks later to see what it was like. I won my age group, a medal and a gift certificate to a restaurant.

I was hooked! In that one event I went from a casual jogger who struggled for motivation, to someone who couldn't wait for the next opportunity to race. I ran to be a better racer, and my improved results made me want to run more. I searched every website, magazine, and brochure for events and mapped out my race schedule months in advance. I talked about running constantly. I drove my wife NUTS!!

In a relatively short amount of time, I managed to make just about every mistake a new runner can. I escaped from the stresses of work by running during my lunch. Taking the stress outside with me, I did all my training alone and challenged myself every run. I was naïve enough to think that every run was supposed to be faster than the last one. In no time I learned how to injure myself by over training and running too hard too often. I also learned that you cannot and should not try to PR every weekend.

My running epiphany came when I convinced my wife to start a walking/running clinic. She always swore up and down that she would never be a runner, but I told her to give the Gallagher women's clinic a try. Watching her progress through the program and seeing her pride in her accomplishments taught me more about running then I had ever known. I learned through her efforts that running was not about winning, but finishing. I watched her overcome so many obstacles and run through pain I cannot even fathom. But nothing would stop her from running with her group. That taught me so much about the power of support.

Three years after my first race, I still have the same enthusiasm for running. If anything, it has intensified. What has changed is where my motivation comes from. Instead of being consumed by the desire to race and PR every weekend, my joy for running now comes from the people I run with. After moving to Salem without knowing anyone, it was running that made me part of the community. I have met so many wonderful people, and made so many great friends. I still look forward to every race, but now I show up every weekend to see everyone instead of race them.