Amy Duquette
by Amy Duquette
To many, running is not considered a social, team sport. Our membership in a track club is proof that we
disagree. Running alone does have its meditative and perhaps even spiritual benefits, but the support,
camaraderie, and healthy competition that comes from belonging to a team encourages us to grow as runners.
Another great benefit of club membership is meeting new people who share similar interests. Hopefully,
this section of the website is going to add to that by allowing us to meet a new member of our PPTC each
edition.
Let me introduce myself. I am still fairly new to running. In a short amount of time, I went from thinking
of running as a form of torture to something that I have become completely addicted to.
Let’s go back to September of 1997 when I moved to NYC from a small town in Western Massachusetts to go
to art school. After those four years at Parsons, I got a job teaching art to middle school children at
PS 111 in Hell’s Kitchen. It was during my one year of teaching art where I accidentally came across the
field of art therapy. I fell in love with the profession and realized very quickly that this is what I
was meant to be doing.
During this period of my life, I gained over 35 pounds. I had not exercised since I was on the tennis and
basketball teams in high school. Around January of 2004, I decided to make some long lasting positive changes
in my life. Exercise and better eating habits became a part of my daily regimen as that year’s resolution.
I started doing Pilates and power walking up and down the West Side Highway. I’ll never forget that one
beautiful, early spring day when something very powerful came over me. After walking for three months, it
did not seem to be enough anymore. My body wanted to run. And it shocked me! I had never thought of running
unless it was to get across the street before the light changed (and then I would be huffing and puffing
from the exertion)! I ran all the way home that day. Then I ran the next day, and the next and the next
until I got to November 21, 2004 when I ran my first four mile race in 32:48. I LOVED IT! Needless to say,
I dropped the 35 pounds and have not stopped running since.
In October of 2005 I moved to Park Slope and I came across PPTC’s website. I joined and began attending
the Tuesday night speed training workouts. I remember when Coach Tony asked us if we run for fun or
competitively? I laughed and told him that of course this was just for fun. But he challenged me and asked
how many races I ran a year. After I told him I run over a dozen a year he replied, "Someone who runs over
12 races a years is a competitive runner."
So here I am, a competitive runner. I finished the NYC marathon in 2007 in 4:27 and had an amazing time.
I felt the "runner’s high" for 2 weeks after that! Or was just really proud, but no need to distinguish.
I’m also proud of my10K PR of 46:36 and the eight half marathons I’ve done. The Miami half was my favorite
course, only slightly beating out the Brooklyn half and the Vegas half. My most favorite races are the ones
I do as a team with my Dad, he does the bike and I do the run in duathlons for example. He has been an
athlete all his life. Being able to compete with him as a team is a thrill and has strengthened our bond.
Running has become an important piece of who I am. Among all else it’s also a perfect compliment to the
other activities that I engage in regularly. These include tap dancing, commuting on my bike, weightlifting
at the gym, oil painting, playing with my two small dogs, starting up and running my own book club and
learning more about myself everyday. The lessons I learn from running have been invaluable and I hope to
run for many more years to come.