Name: Elena Fezza
Age: 39
Marital Status: Married almost 10 years
Children: Reese (7) and Casey (4) – both girls with unisex names
Occupation: Law Enforcement (NYPD)
Hobbies: Running, Reading, Hiking, Traveling (especially to see family), Drinks with friends
Hometown: Dover, DE (0-10)/Springfield (Delco), PA (10-17)
Current: Smithtown
When Lou asked me to be the WOTW my first instinct was to say no. I’m not great at these things but this is such a great group of people and all that Lou does for everyone in the group, I couldn’t say no.
So I would say my “running” journey started with sports. I’ve been playing sports since I could remember and always sports that required running up and down the field (soccer, field hockey, lacrosse). I started with soccer and would have most likely continued but my middle school didn’t have a girl’s soccer team so I did field hockey because my big sisters did it. When I was a freshman in high school my travel soccer coach started the first high school girls soccer team. I was leery because I knew most of the team would be beginners and I didn’t think I would be challenged enough. Field hockey tryouts started the week before so I said I’d just try out for “shits and giggles” and then do soccer. I ended up making the varsity field hockey team as a freshman so I couldn’t say no. Throughout high school I played hockey and lacrosse which required many runs during practice, usually on Kerr Lane, the dreaded enormous hill! (which is actually tiny in comparison to the Selden hills 🤦🏻♀️) I always said I hated running for “no reason”. Why would I run just to get to the end? What’s the point? I needed to run to get to the ball or score a goal. Anything other than that was just pointless. Fast forward to my early adult life. Exercise was always important to me and running was the easiest (as far as no equipment or teammates required) so I did it but not consistently. Then my sister moved to NYC, had some rough times and found running to pull her out of it. Of course running with people is more fun so she convinced me to join her when I moved to NYC. First we would meet for runs in Central Park. Then she convinced me to do NYC borough half marathons where we had an unforgettable subway experience on the way to the Brooklyn half. Next we did the Chicago Marathon “together” in 2006 and the NYC Marathon in 2007. Both were amazing but very different experiences (more on that later). They both sparked my love of running and I realized the point of running for the end. I was never very consistent throughout the years (I hate cold weather running) but I would always do races here and there. Then I met JaMe Pi who introduced me to the Selden Hills and refuses to accept my excuses for not running. And thanks to this group I’m always able to find a running partner for company, motivation and encouragement. I’m so happy to be a part of such an awesome group of people! Thanks for reading!