Patience. That's what Tina Connelly of Port Coquitlam, BC, would tell you is necessary to reach the highest level in our sport. At 29, Tina has shown remarkable patience performing at an increasingly higher level ever since she started running. It has paid off, none more than this year.

Tina, who has just been named the 1999 Canadian Female Road Runner of the Year by The Running Scene, considers this year her best yet. She is proud of the fact that she has achieved the triple-crown of running in Canada. She won the Canadian 10,000 m track Championship in Winnipeg this summer, won the Canadian 10K Road Running Championship in Montreal in October, and then went and took top honours at the Canadian Cross-Country Championship in Etobicoke, Ontario in November. Few Canadian athletes can claim those in one year.

As if those achievements were not enough by themselves, Tina also had her best showing in three attempts at the World Cross-Country Championship which was held in Ireland in the Spring. Tina finished 17^th in the world in the 8K race against formidable competition. Moreover, during the year Tina managed to win Canada's largest race, the Vancouver Sun Run 10K, in a speedy 32:41, and win the San Diego Half Marathon in August in 1:14:02. To top it all off, Tina attempted her first marathon in December in Sacramento where she placed 2^nd in the California International Marathon in a Canadian 1999 leading time of 2:34:44.

To her credit, she accomplished these performances while being a registered psychiatric nurse in BC. For the past eight years she had been working all kinds of shifts at the hospital. Anyone who has done shift work will be able to relate to Tina's constant feeling of fatigue. This summer though, she took a leave of absence for July and August, and returned to a position where she has more flexibility and that suits her running lifestyle. She is on call, but she gets to decide when she is available. When there is a major race coming up, she is simply unavailable.

These new arrangements and the summer off have probably assisted Tina in becoming more consistent. She attributes her performances this year to consistency and to a higher mileage. This has permitted Tina to train harder. Her training mileage increased from her regular 50 miles to 70-75 miles per week. She ensured the intensity of her workouts were kept high however, and simply added a few more sets to her interval workouts. She also incorporated regular long runs between 17 and 21 miles. All this training "clicked" for her. Her body adapted to the training and responded when it was most needed, during the races.

Her fitness this year was such that she could allow herself to experiment a little. The San Diego Half Marathon was such an experiment. Her other experiment was the California International Marathon. With her track season over, she decided that her level of running was such that she could run the 42.2 km distance.

Not having run a marathon before, Tina ran conservatively, if you can call 5:41 miles for more than 20 miles conservative. She ran the early miles of the marathon in 4^th place and moved up to 2^nd place by the 10^th mile. She ran the first half in under 1:15. Everything was well on the road for breaking to Olympic qualifying time of 2:33. The 20 mile mark passed with no wall in sight. Tina was gradually gaining on the runner in first place, Nicky Carroll of Australia. Her husband, Brendan Connelly, was encouraging her along the course, giving her moral support.

Then Tina went through hell. The last 3 miles were the most painful experience she has encountered. As a marathon rookie, Tina had not mastered the art of drinking fluids from cups without splashing everywhere except her mouth. Though she ingested some PowerGel, the thick goo sat in her mouth like a paste as she did not have enough water to properly wash it down. The final results of all this was that Tina dehydrated and hit the wall hard. Tina courageously hung on to 2^nd place and still clocked that fastest marathon for a Canadian women this year.

When someone runs with such intensity, it is not uncommon for athletes to reach the finish line to then collapse. Exhausted, dehydrated, dizzy and cramping, she collapsed at the finish line and ended in the medical tent. The damage was short lived as she recovered and was back to casual running four days later.

Her performance shows how gutsy and dedicated Tina is. Though the marathon was just an experiment, she learned tremendously and it will be exciting to see her attempt this again in the future. This will probably not happen for a year. Tina is still dedicated to the track and next year the biggest goal of all looms ahead, the Olympics. Though Tina did not meet the qualifying standard for the marathon, she is intent on focusing on the track and meeting the qualifying times in the 5,000m and 10,000m. Her preference at the Olympics would be the 10,000m.

Previously, Tina attempted to qualify for the 1999 World Track and Field Championship in Spain in the 10,000, but failed to meet the standards set by Athletics Canada by only 4 seconds. She was not able to represent Canada in Seville, but she remains undeterred.

With her elevated fitness level and confidence, look for Tina to perform well at the World Cross-Country Championship in Portugal in the Spring. She will then focus on the track so she can represent Canada in Sydney. All she needs is to use a little bit more of her patience.

MAJOR PERFORMANCES

1999 Canadian 8K Cross-Country Champion in 27:40

1999 Canadian 10K Road Running Champion in 33:25

1999 Canadian 10,000m Champion in 33:04

1999 PanAm Games 10,000m - 3^rd in 33:28

1999 World 8K Cross-Country Championship (IRL) - 17^th in 29:24

1998 World 8K Cross-Country Championship (MAR) - 55^th in 28:11

1998 Canadian 10,000m Championship - 2^nd in 33:42

1997 World 6K Cross-Country Championship - 77^th in 21:12

1997 Canadian 10,000m Championship - 2^nd in 33:20

1997 Francophone Games 10,000m - 3^rd in 35:27

1996 Canadian 5,000m Champion in 16:16

1996 Canadian 10,000m Olympic Trials - 2^nd in 34:43

1996 Canadian 6K Cross-Country Championship - 2^nd in 21:07

Male

Female

5KM

1. Dave Reed

16:08

Leah Pells

16:04

10KM

1. Norm Tinkham

32:09

Gretchen Dumoulin

37:09

2. Francois Lecot

33:04

Kathy Rung

37:44

3. Joel Silverman

33:23

Tracy Hall

38:43