Saturday Spotlight!!
Sorry a day late, but I had a problem with copy and paste! Anyway.. My name is Kelly Redmond Gudice. I am 43 years old, soon to be 44. I am a Nurse Practitioner at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, (cardiology department). I am married to an NYPD detective Joe Guidice, and we have 3 runners-in-training, Emily (13), Elizabeth (10), and Erin (7). I grew up in Shirley, NY. I loved Smith Point Beach, and still enjoy going for runs in Shirley. I am the oldest of 6 kids. My parents married young and had me at 17 years old! They are my inspiration. There is no run or marathon that can inspire me more than my parents. We grew up poor, by American standards, but my parents had too much pride to ever ask for assistance, so we just lived without, we struggled, and I learned what it means to work really hard. My dad had 3 jobs, a day job at Entenmanns, a weekend job at Good Sam, and after work he put up fences. But, he managed to be there for every important milestone I had. My mom stayed at home, raised 6 kids, then…became a nurse when the youngest was 3. Now, my parents are doing pretty well. My father is a Foreman/Journeyman/Lineman Local 1049. Life is all good, thank God. Running was something I truly loved early on in life. I was a soccer player, I ran to stay in shape. My favorite run was over the Smith Point Bridge, over the boardwalk and back to my house. It may sound cliche, but the smell of the salt water, the wind blowing as I crossed the bridge both ways, and the boats on the Great South Bay were just so beautiful. I really treasure and truly appreciate how awesome it is to just be able to run. I would always wave to the guy in the tower too. I felt like if I missed a day, he would wonder what happened to me! I am sure I am crazy, but every runner gets inspired by the craziest things. I had some mighty close calls on the boardwalk with strange people, a lot of nudity lets say because there is a nude beach not far from Smith Point. The nudes never bothered me though, although that is not for me. I continued running in college. I was on the Stony Brook Soccer team, and we got to travel all over, and run all over! My favorite runs were San Francisco. I felt like I was always running uphill. But, it was great. My experience with running is it should be exhilarating. It should make you feel good. I run because I love running. I run those hills because it is a challenge each time. I love this running group because it is full of awesome people that share a common goal, and that is to get over the hill!!!