Saturday Spotlight
Name : Steve Frankle
Age: 44
Hometown: Rosedale,NY
Current town: Bethpage NY
College: Hofstra
Relationship Status: Single/Divorced
Occupation: Data Analyst, Healthcare
Favorite Race: Anything between 6 to 8 miles
Running Spots: Blydenburg, East Hills, Selden hills, Bethpage HS Track
Hi there everyone! First I want to Thank Lou LaFleur for all he does to make this team so amazing and for picking me to be the Warrior of the week for this week. Even though I don’t run the hills as often as many of you, I am very proud to be a member of this amazing team. Its in times like this where this team shows that not only made up of amazing runners but amazing people.
Now to the hard part telling my story. I have to say if anyone told me when I was young that I’d be a passionate obstacle course racer and runner in my 30s and 40s I would have laughed. Although I always loved sports, I learned from playing little league and youth soccer that I wasn’t much of an athlete. That lack of skill set caused me to lose my motivation as a teen. That though all changed after college.
As a kid even though I wasn’t athletic I was always very active and lanky. Once I graduated college and was working behind a desk for a few months I started to feel unhealthy as well as put on some weight. This motivated me to begin working out and from my first day on a treadmill I was addicted. What began as something I just did inside the gym as part of workout plan evolved over time to almost an obsession to running, HIIT training and my biggest passion of obstacle course racing. As I got more into obstacle course racing I realized it was the running part was the aspect I loved the most. I started doing longer distances up to Spartan Beasts (Half Marathon) and said I want to and need to run more for both training and fun. That led me to begin doing a bunch of road 5k and 10k races and was became addicted to them too. One day when I was talking to Jason Taylor he told me about the SHW and that I should give the course a try and join the team. I knew when he told me that it sounded perfect. I ran my first classic in Mar 2019 alongside Peter Van Zandt, well not really alongside since he was way faster at those hills then I was lol. I have to say I did not know there were hills like that anywhere on Long Island. I loved it!
Fast forward to my first team race as a member of SHW which was Robs Run. I was on a great team with my OCR teammate Tara Carrick and Rich Sparacin.
I had run that race solo a couple of times in the past solo but my teammates made it much more fun. As 2020 started I was really looking forward to being involved in many more events this year. Obviously the world had other plans.
So, I sit here looking forward to the days where we can return to group runs and Birthday runs. I can’t wait to see everyone again and meet so many more members who I haven’t had the opportunity to meet yet. Hopefully those days will return sooner rather than later. Until then everyone stay safe and healthy and keep at it!