Wife started running last spring; spouse followed suit in fall
By ROBERTA MACINNIS
Doubters might say that misery loves company. Believers know better.
Tiffany McElweenie, 26, became a believer a year ago when a friend encouraged her to join Power in Motion.
The 10-week clinic offered twice yearly by the Houston Area Road Runners Association introduces people to recreational running.
McElweenie had such a good experience that she recruited her husband, Jason McElwee- nie, to join the fall session.
Now enthusiastic runners, the pair will return to Memorial Park on Wednesday for this year's spring clinic.
"I know I wouldn't have done it on my own," Tiffany said. "I thought, 'I'll never stick with it. It's not going to be any fun.' Then I got started, and I had so much fun. It was a blast going out there every week."
Jason, 36, had been wanting to get in shape, too.
"Like most people who are overweight, you eventually have to completely ignore that voice inside or do something about it," he said. "I'd never liked running. I couldn't stand running. But she just kept talking about it and how great it was to have a regimen and how the people were fantastic. Now I love it."
Participants are grouped by ability, from beginners to those who can run several miles but would like to go farther or faster. Each session is followed by a seminar with such topics as what to wear or how to avoid injury. The coaches are volunteers; some of them started in PIM as well.
"The coaches are so nice and so warm and so supportive," Jason said "They don't care who you are or what you can do. They want to make sure you can run, be active and be happy about yourself."
"To tell the truth, I get more out of the program than they do. I feed off their energy," said Manny Valle, a lifelong runner who coaches the McElweenies' PIM group. "Jason and Tiffany are kind of funny to me. They're married, yet they seem to have a friendly competition going."
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