Michele Dobson loves running! She first began while attending East Syracuse Minoa High School,
where she was a member of the track team. She competed in the high jump, the 100m and 400m hurdles and
was on the one and two mile relay teams. As she puts it, "I guess track was where I found my niche
in the sports world." She continued on at the collegiate level at Cortland State. She even participated
in the Empire State Games in 1978, earning a bronze medal in the pentathlon and competed in the high jump and
100m hurdles at the 1979 games. After college, she would stray from time to time, but she always returned as
it provided her with peace and serenity and gave her a lift when she needed it most.
Three years ago Michele joined the Syracuse Chargers and learned of their summertime fun runs. She began
attending the Onondaga Lake Park Fun Runs where she soon made some great friendships. She started running
the 5K each week, admitting that the distance seemed very long at first. Last year she began doing the 8K
course almost exclusively, watching her times slowly improve each week. She started the season with a 43:12
and although she saw improvement with each run, she could not imagine her time every dipping under 40 minutes.
With help from Fred Miller, she had her best time of the 2002 season at the final OLP run when he paced her
to a 36:34. She was quite emotional and shared a victory hug with him at the finish line.
Besides doing the OLP fun runs, Michele also competes in many local races. This past year she set two
new pr’s both at Paige’s Butterfly Run (22:51) and the Mountain Goat 10-miler (1:22:26.) She has recently
run in both the Highland Forest trail runs and the Swamp Rat 10K. She is about to run in her second Boilermaker
15K and is looking forward to seeing the thousands of other runners and energetic crowds. Although she enjoys
racing a variety of distances, her preference is for the longer courses.
Running a marathon was not something she had ever considered until a friend said that she and some others
were going to do the Vermont City Marathon. After getting shut out of that one, she kept trying and in 2002
she entered the National Capital Weekend Marathon in Ottawa and describes it as being a fabulous experience.
She finished in 4:46:37. Michele states, "I was so absolutely excited about finishing. I cried and the
people were great there and this women walked up to me and gave me a rose and I cried some more." With
her mother there to cheer her on during the race which took place on Mother’s Day, she could not think of a more
perfect way to celebrate the occasion and her first marathon. In the fall she was at it again, tackling the
Wineglass Marathon and finishing in an impressive 4:23.06. She currently is planning on another fall marathon
in 2003 with friends Linda Glowacki and Jackie Smith.
Her training consists of running an average of 30-40 miles per week. Although she has no trouble getting
motivated to run in the warm, sunny weather, this past winter was tough! By hooking up with friends, they beat
the winter blahs together and managed to get in some quality training despite the cold and snow. And she is glad
because for her, running is the best way to get the day started. When she doesn’t make it out for a run she feels
sluggish and unproductive, and realizing that this is how she will feel, motivates her all the more.
Michele resides in Phoenix with her son Dalton, who also runs at the OLP Fun Runs. She likes to bike and it
provides her with some cross training, which is especially helpful when she is nursing an injury and cannot run
as much as she would like. She also enjoys gardening and camping. She works as a Kitchen and Bath Designer at
Ferguson's in Syracuse. Looking ahead, her immediate goals are to continue running, try to improve her times,
stay injury free and most importantly- have fun!
July, 2003
