Name: Heidi Higgins
Age: 33
Current Hometown: Patchogue, NY
Children: Katie (9)
Occupation: Accounts Manager
When Lou first asked me if I wanted to be WOTW – my immediate thoughts were Heck Yeah Napolean!!…it took all of 2 seconds before the panic set in though.
I thought OMG, WOTW!! Me!? Reaaaaallly!? But I’m not a REAL runner….I’m a fraud…heck, I still can’t even run the original 10K course without taking walk breaks (seriously that last huge hill gets me EVERY. SINGLE. TIME!
WOTW my sweet fanny….but you know what, screw it. I always tell Kate, it doesn’t matter if you come in first or last place, you’ve already beaten everyone who never even started…so why shouldn’t I take my own advise…I AM a runner, hear me roar (insert the gentle sounds of lambs baaaahing 
🙂 )!!
So a little about me…I was born and raised on Long Island….I love LI but I regret having never lived anyplace else….I’m thinking tropical…I’d sell coconut bras by day & swim in the silvered tips of the moonlit sea by night…..cheese I know but this 9-5’er can dream right!!
What else, what else?
If I had to compare myself to (2) Real Housewives cast members (yeah I’m one of those!) I’d say I’m the deliciously DysFUNctional mixed blend of Betthenny Frankel (snark’s kinda my thaaaaang) & Erika Jayne (b/c Erika Jayne, that’s why!)
But I’m guessing you’re not here to read about my coconut bra selling dreams or my housewives musings, this IS a running page after all
I’m super competitive with sports….Dodge Ball? In your face sucker! Volley Ball? Eat dirt sucker! Ping Pong? Prepare to be Gump’d sucker! But running is different for me …it’s like my therapy… my “you’re going down sucker” free zone.
The first race I ever ran was about 6 years ago in Sayville …it was your basic flat 5K …I didn’t train (like AT ALL)….there’s a really good chance I registered day of wearing crocs & mismatched socks, I don’t remember, but suffice it to say I was a running noob by every sense of the term. Armed with my naivety & blinding noobness, I though, I’m young, I’m skinny – I’ve got this….sh*t I may even win this thing…Hahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahaha
Hhahahahahahahahahaaaahahahahaaahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahaahahahahahhaahahahahahahahahhaha
Hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahaahhahahaha
By ½ a mile in I was walking…by mile 1, 4 year olds were wizzing past me & by mile 2, for a fleeting second, slinking off to my car to eat my fresh baked humble pie in privacy seemed my most humane option…but I’m not a quitter, I’m a lot of things (I’m like the living personification of Meredith Brooks “Bitch”)…but a quitter, oh no, never that…56 minutes later, I crossed my first 5K finish line…Should I be embarrassed or fib with a more “respectable” finishing time? Meh… the thing about running is, it’s never just about running….that first 5K changed in me…confidence is good, being honest with yourself and capabilities, better. Earning it, well that’s the bee’s knees. Embarrassing or not, I earned that 56 minute finish, WhatI got out of that race is exactly what I put into it and if I wanted to do better next time I’d have to work for it.
I didn’t immediately start running after that …sure I’d occasionally hit the streets for a random miler but it wasn’t until about 2 years & a band shake-up later, that I really “took up” running. I’ve been running now for about 4 years & have (1) Marathon, (2) ½ Marathons and more 5K’s under my belt then I can count, and while I’m still not winning any races (seriously guys, can you throw me a bone & slow down out there lol) I’ve definitely gotten my times down by a lot.
Now about that last huge Selden Hills hill…..