Name: Jason Vittore
Age: 43
Nickname: Vittore, JV
Hometown: Levittown, NY
Current Town: Levittown, NY
Marital Status: Widower – My Wife Jessamyn passed away back in 2015
Children: Quinn-5 (Future Warrior in Training)
Pet: 1 Dog – Baci (Yorkie poo or a Porkshire lol)
Occupation: Underground Utility Locator for USIC
Favorite Band: Dave Matthews Band
Favorite Kicks: Brooks
Current Kicks: Glycerin 15’s (Best 👟 Ever!)
It is such an honor to be the WOTW. I was in shock when Lou asked me to be the WOTW. I actually thought he made a mistake and was meaning to IM someone else. Lol. But, here I am and I couldn’t be happier. Thank you for this honor!! I am not accustomed to talking about myself and especially talk about running and the things I have done with it. I will give it a go. Lol
I have been a Warrior since January 2015 when my Sister Nikki Vittore-Barnett brought me to run the Hills for the first time. I didn’t know what to expect but I knew it was a difficult course. I thought I was going to die that day. I couldn’t walk normally for a week. Everyone remembers their first time. Unfortunately, That was the last time she ran the hills with me. If it wasn’t for Nikki I don’t know if I would have ever started running in the first place. I was always a fast runner in all the sports that I played in school but, I would never have thought on my own to do an organized race. That was crazy talk. Lol. So, Nikki ran the Long Island Half Marathon back in 2006. I was a smoker and few other things that I shouldn’t have been doing as well. Ok getting back to Nikki and the her running the 2006 Half Marathon. When she told me she was running that race I was so shocked that anyone would ever want to do something like that and because they wanted too. Growing up and doing High School Sports, extra running to me was a punishment. Like if the team lost a game because of too many penalties “Do one lap around the school for every penalty during the game. We were not a good football team so we ran a lot.
I tried to tried to start running back in 2007 and decided I wanted to run a 5k and started Training for or at least what I thought what Training was at the time. I ran the 2007 Thunder Run, it was a 5 mile race back then. When Nikki and I picked it out we thought I’d was a 5k. Oops!! Lol. I feel I did quite well for my first race 55:38 with almost no training at the time. I got what I thought was shin splints and tried to run through the pain and made it so much worse. I actually had a stress fracture in my right shin. The pain was so unbearable and I ended up stopping running and went back to my Cigarettes and other stuff. It was 3 years before I started running again.
I finally quit smoking cigarettes and doing drugs on May 6, 2010. It’s was a day in my life that I thought would never come. I didn’t actually start running on that day. That date was May 15, 2010. I woke up that day with a mission. I was going to find a track that I could go to and running around and nothing was going to stop me. Unfortunately the schools were still in session so i was kicked off the tracks of 3 different high schools. I was really determined to get some sort of run or walking in. I finally drove down to Bellmore and I ended doing my workout at the Nassau Boces Children Readiness Center. It was the first time I did a Walk/Run type of workout and I knew that I had found a workout that I could get in to and build up and it was the start of something really special.
I am a member of a few groups
1. Selden Hills Warriors (of Course)
2. Half Fanatics
3. LIRRC 🦆
I have been running injury free for over 8 years (knock on wood) and I have countless 5k and 10k’s under my belt. I have run 36 Half Marathons, 1 Marathon and 1 50k. For the 50k I challenged myself to do it when I finally quit drinking back last August. I ran The Caumsett 50k this past March.
Running completely changed my life for the better and I am a happier person knowing that I have such a wonderful passion for a sport that let me push my limits and challenge myself to new and amazing feats. I am currently training for the Suffolk County Marathon with my sister Nikki and her running partner Crystal. I have so much more that I could write I am sure if it. But I still have the rest of the week to tell you about my favorite thing to talk about besides my Daugher …………..ME!! Lol.