April Runner of the Month: Sarah Trigg
Sarah joined NBR in 2019 with a desire to time qualify through the half marathon for the New York City Marathon in 2020. She owes it all to her high school running coach, Joseph Perez, who reignited her desire for competition after his passing in 2018. Sarah is an active member of the Master’s Women team and most recently ran an amazing marathon at the Two Rivers Marathon in March, qualifying for the Boston Marathon by 22 minutes!
Photo by Drew Reynolds
When did you join NBR and why?
That I’m here at all with NBR is due to my high school coach Joseph Perez (1933–2018). After his passing, I decided to run the NYC marathon in his honor. At the time, I was running maybe 5–7 easy miles a week and hadn’t run any sort of training regimen since high school, but the NYC marathon was always something I always wanted to do. I figured I would register for the 2020 marathon through the 9+1 program. But just out of curiosity I took a look at the qualifying time standards—and at that moment the competitive racing part of my brain jolted out of its decades-long dormancy and has not quieted since. Mind you, I could barely run an 8-minute mile at the time, but I knew if my coach were around, he would tell me I could do it. “But you gotta train! It doesn’t just happen,” he would say.
And so, in November 2019, I set out to time qualify in a half marathon. I missed my first two opportunities due to a flu bug and then an injury. As I gained more respect for the distance, I had some goal doubts. But by summer, I won my AG in a 12-miler. And then at the Staten Island half marathon (my last chance to time-qualify) I achieved my goal by 2 minutes—completing my 9+1 at the same time. Running that many races, though, was exactly what I needed. And then part way through the year I applied for the NYC lottery and won an entry to the 2019 marathon (incredibly lucky).
Best running memory?
After qualifying for the Boston Marathon, it was clear the racing gods were not going to let go. But I felt I was missing something. A team, teammates.
One of my best memories, as far as team-related, was my coach pulling my teammate and me up—after our ninth-grade season had ended—for the high school varsity Conference Meet. (We were technically freshman, but, in the region, high school started with sophomores.) Irked that a rival team had done this the year before with a fast runner, my coach decided if these were the new rules, he would play by them too. We ended up winning Conference and then won Sectionals to go to State. Our team would repeat this cycle again—three more years in a row for a four-year reign. Those experiences permanently rewired my teenage brain to make racing a positive experience—and cemented the team win to be as important as the individual.
In January of 2020, I joined an NBR run, led by Becca Ades, for those interested in joining the Local Competitive group. These ladies are damn fast. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little intimidated. Was I fast enough? Would there be anyone there in my age group? On the run, I had a long, cheery chat that put me at ease with Natalie Gleed who is head of the Masters LC. And over coffee afterwards, I met Caroline McNeill—whose race times flat out inspired me to join NBR.
Then, the Armory Marathon relay race will hands down be the best memory of 2020.
How did you get into running?
In seventh grade I joined cross country because my friends were. I ran average the whole season—suffering along just like everyone. But at the City Meet, much to everyone’s astonishment (mostly to my own self), I led the race from the start and won after a fierce battle on the final stretch (with a girl who would become one of my HS teammates). I found out years later my coach had watched the race and he told me we weren’t going that fast (he was never known to sugar coat) but that he knew I would become a good runner because I wasn’t afraid to take the lead.
What has running taught you or changed about you?
In 2013 toward the tail end of an arduous 4-year book project, I found myself tapping into my endurance-race-brain stamina in order to finish it—so much so, that I visited my coach to thank him. I hadn’t seen him in well over a decade and this turned out to be the last time I would see him. We kept up through Facebook though after that. He was also my art teacher in high school. He would comment on every post I made with an artwork I had in an exhibition—asking how it was made or what size it was and often with words of encouragement. (Ever the coach!)
But the point is, there’s no question that the mental training it takes to hold it together through a race will spill over into your real-world situations.
Any running-related superstitions?
Not a superstition, but a new ritual. The night before the NYC 2019 marathon, I pulled out my high school varsity jacket from storage. This is probably the only appropriate time to pull this out, I thought. The thing is like a heavy piece of armor with dozens of team and individual medals sewn on it. I’m pretty proud of it, obviously. I hung it up in my view overnight to give myself the assurance that if I placed in all those grueling races, I would probably make it through this marathon ok.
When I was coming to, eyes blurry at 4 am, I thought for a moment I was looking at one of my wall pieces titled Smoulders Not Done. Until the reddish patches of that piece came into focus—to be instead the Conference Championship badges on my jacket. Now, maybe that was just my subconscious letting me know more races were in the works—but it was hard not to take that as a sign from my coach—who is one of the few people who knows me well as both a runner and an artist.
I told my high school teammates about that story. A few of us are now back in touch regularly due to reuniting over my coach’s passing. The day before the Two Rivers Marathon this past March (my second marathon), they each group texted a photo of their varsity jacket in support.
What is your favorite race distance?
I think it might be the half marathon, but I’ve only done one 10k and have a feeling I might like that too. I love the marathon for the training journey and there’s no question about its length as an accomplishment, but you sort of have to hold back from using your speed in it.
Photo by Drew Reynolds
Favorite running route in NYC?
I live further east than most of the team, so I’m able to take advantage of the absolute gem of Forest and Highland Parks for many of my long tempo runs.
Current running goal?
Currently I’m on the edge of my damn seat waiting for my Boston Marathon application to be granted. That is my first goal. I was grateful my NBR teammates told me about Two Rivers. I got my qualifying time down to 22 minutes under the qualifying cutoff and nearly 2 minutes under for women in general—but now the field size is two-thirds of what it normally is, so who knows how everything will shake down.
My next goal is to complete the six marathon majors for the Six Star Finisher medal—by time qualifying—which means I’d need a sub 3:20 to get into Berlin. So, needless to say, there are heavier training plans in the horizon. More mileage, more strength exercises, more forcing myself to eat those terrible-tasting fuel gels. (I under fueled for Two Rivers and crashed the last 4 miles—still so much to learn about this distance.) Plugging my high school times into a race equivalent calculator and then an age calculator (not that one should always abide by these), I think this goal is within reach.
I also would like to run the Bellin 10k again in Green Bay. I ran it after my HS junior year in my racing flats—giving myself what they thought was a stress fracture in my upper femur. The injury took the sails out of what I could do my senior year and made me hang up my shoes permanently in college. The injury area kept nagging me if I increased mileage. Finally, two years ago—pissed it was aggravating me decades later—I went to my acupuncturist, Nan Yi Chun, who finally unearthed whatever it was. She’s an incredible acupuncturist.
I’d like to race the Bellin again, win my AG again, and get as close as I can to the same finish time.
What do you think is the worst part about being a runner?
Injuries. Six months ago, I had a knee injury flare up for the third time. This round, I could barely run two miles without it feeling like I got a plastic bag caught in my bike chain so to speak. I knew if my acupuncturist wasn’t crushing it permanently that I must be contributing to the problem mechanically every time I ran.
I was lucky to find Dr. Ben Leong. I told him I was hoping to do the Two Rivers Marathon (about 4 months away at the time). I knew I had the right doctor from the start but especially one day when I had a mini setback and I was being mopey, like, ‘it’s ok if it turns out I can’t do the marathon, there will be others…’ There was a long pause, and he was like, ‘let’s keep our eye on the marathon’. There was no ‘maybe you should reset your goals’ talk (a comment feel I get too often by doctors because of my age). It felt like he had the whole picture of what I could do—more than me even. He’s a former athlete, so he gets it.
We worked to retrain myself how to load better in the stride, and it also became clear that an earlier accident of being struck by a cab on the side of the knee injury was contributing to the problem. I ran Two Rivers with zero knee pain and now we’re working on plyo.
Best advice to running newbies?
As my coach would say, always remember most races are won in the middle.
