Name: Stephanie Templeton
Nickname: Steph
Age: of a certain…50+
From: Nassau County
Currently: Suffolk County
Marital Status: Married for a lotta years
Children: yes
Pets: dogs, cats, guinea pig, frogs, fish
I didn’t really know where I was going to begin with this, but then someone who I respect very much told me about one’s life being like a work of art. Let’s see if I can paint this picture. I grew up in a regular Long Island suburb. I always liked being active, so I took lots of swimming lessons, rode my bike all over, including to Jones beach, on a regular basis from my mid-teen years. I wasn’t into competitive sports. After high school, I immediately joined a gym, and haven’t been without a membership since, which is more than 30 years! I like being active because it makes me feel good. I also started running right after high school. My first races were some local 5ks, the Long Island Half Marathon, and Cow Harbor 10k.
I went off to college, studied Landscape Architecture, running all the while and having my gym time, as well as playing a bit of golf. After college, I worked in NYC and on Long Island, designing parks, playgrounds, and residences. I then did a number of sprint triathlons.
After a number of years, I met my husband, love of my life, and saw that things were getting serious. I wanted to live in Europe and get my masters degree before getting married, so I combined the two and headed off to Rome. I continued my studies in London, and received my degree in business administration. All the while, I had my bicycle with me, ran in the beautiful parks of Rome and London. I had my gym memberships and met locals during workouts. It was a very good time! I returned to the US, and we became engaged, and married later that year. My husband is active as well, so we can golf or ski, or even ride our tandem bike together.
After marrying, I opened my own small design company. I worked for a number of years, until our first born came along. I had a nice jogger stroller. I wasn’t racing much then, as I was enjoying motherhood. Soon, we needed a double jogger stroller! I ran right into my 8 month for all of my pregnancies. As for work, the time and interest for my design work diminished, and I was able to use my business skills part-time with our newly opened family business, my husband’s veterinary office. All the while, I was running, and took a strong interest in yoga. I’m not sure just how running races found its way back into my life, but, somehow I became interested in running a half marathon again. My friends and I journeyed off to Paris, because there were no local half marathons (shhh…don’t tell my husband anything different!). We ended up having such a great time that we continued with more destination halfs. I was starting to approach 50, and decided that I wanted to run a full marathon, and would give it to myself as a personal gift. I ran NY…then a few years later ran NY again…and have run many other races in between.
I joined Selden Hills Warriors last year, after many different people recommended the group to me. I’m very happy to be part of this fun, dedicated group. I hope that I painted a bit of a picture for you of who I am.