Saturday Spotlight- Vanessa Logan

Name : Vanessa Logan
Age : 38
Family : husband; James Logan kids; Victoria; 18, Meghan; 14 (will be 15 next week!!), Emma; 9, and Sean; 6.
Occupation : Police Officer with SCPD since 2003 and Bayport Blue Point Schools security team since 2006.

Morning, All!! Wow, super nervous to do this but so happy to be part of such an awesome group of people! Thanks, Lou LaFleur for the opportunity to share a little more about myself. Hope I don’t bore all of you!
Let’s see … I was never athletic growing up, still am not (lol), and chose to work my butt off from a very early age (newspaper delivery at age 11 and babysitting) to pay for the things I wanted since my father left and there wasn’t much money to go around for extras. So, all through high school, I worked 2 jobs and volunteered at church; my physical activity was walking around the track during gym class with my friend, Sarah Johnson.
I dated a bunch of losers (probably didn’t think I was worth more, lol) and my senior year, I joined the fire department and became a Class A Firefighter and an EMT (which, 20 years later, I still am). Funny, wasn’t looking for anyone and that’s where I met Jim. We became fast friends and started dating.
Well, by Fall of my 1st semester of college, I found out I was pregnant. I was 18. Wow. I was determined, more than ever, to succeed and not be a stereotypical “teenaged Mom.” I kept working and never skipped a semester at school, thanks to Jim. At 19, I had my daughter; at 21, we bought our 1st home and at 22, I got married. I had my 2nd daughter at age 23.
I joined a gym (one I still go to!) just to stay slim and ran sporadically on the treadmill or sometimes outdoors. By the time I was 26, I was in Grad School (not too shabby for the teen Mom) in an MSW program at SUNY Stony Brook and knew I’d be getting called for the SCPD shortly, so I began running a little more just to be ready.
Well, along the journey, I had 2 more children and ran a few miles here or there, but it was hard with the two-tour schedule of patrol, a husband who worked in the city and 4 kids, not to mention the occasional hours at the side job.
In 2011, I decided I wanted to run a half. So, I bought some sneakers on the discount rack at the outlets and after having foot surgery, I began to run and train for the Diva Half. I didn’t care about pace (some things never change, I still don’t, lol!) and just wanted the medal at the end! So, I run it and see Jim and 3 of my kids along mile 8. That was pretty darn cool.
I decided that Jim and I should run a marathon, so 3 months later, we ran our 1st down in Disney (more about that this week!!)
After that, a friend mentioned a new running club was forming, the North Country Road Warriors. So, March of 2012, we became members and met a great running family. Love these people. Thank you, Frank Capone!
We started doing some races because the proceeds went to great causes. We volunteer at the church (among other stuff) and our motto is to “always give back.”
In July of 2012, Jim & I ran the Selden Hills for the 1st time. Wow. It was a hot & humid afternoon, and KC Brett stayed with me the entire time. I was floored. What a great guy he is! I’ve met some wonderful people in this group, also. The running community is a special one, indeed.
I enjoy running for fun and have completed 4 marathons, a handful of half marathons, countless 5ks and that sort of stuff, but I still won’t call myself a “runner.” I run, but am not a “runner” yet … I think it is because I consider myself a slower one compared to most!!
So, now it is 2015, and I don’t get to the Hills as much as I’d like to with family obligations and work (and I now have a steady M-F, 9-5 position, but Jim works 2 jobs and I take hours at my 2nd job as well) so I’ve been what I like to affectionately call myself, “lazybones.” Hard to get workouts in, so my physical activity consists of CrossFit three mornings a week at 5am with my wonderful CrossFit family (Emily and Kristin are Hills runners and part of my 5am family), training with my trainer at the gym a few nights a week and running 4-5 miles a few times a week on my meal period at work.
My running time is my “ME” time and I run without music, without a Garmin watch and I just run for fun. It relieves stress and I do my thinking, my praying and count my blessings. It is pretty nice. My 18 year old and 9 year old sometimes run with me now and they have done some races. And, my son will sometimes ask to run around the block together. I am a lucky Mama. I am looking forward to summer and getting back to the Hills more often!!
Thank you, Lou, for creating this wonderful group and allowing me to share my (albeit long) story. I love meeting all of you and am so thankful to be a part of this really amazing group and look forward to meeting more of you and getting to know more of you!!!