Stella Medina

Hometown
White Plains, New York

Occupation
Managed publishing operations for major legal publisher up until a few years ago. Currently volunteering at WBGO (best jazz station on the planet), Rockefeller State Park Preserve, and the Westchester Track Club.

Personal Bests
Mile – 6:02
5k – 19:30

Career Highlight
My mile PR came last summer, at the age of 47; the 5k PR back when I was 28 – bookends to my running career so far. As a Masters runner, I’ve had some exciting age group wins: Women Running Wild 5k in Osterville, Massachusetts in 2006 (21:10); and bronze in the mile (6:08) at Boston USATF Indoor Master’s Championships in 2008. Some races are memorable not because they were the fastest, but the most challenging. Most recently, I ran a 12:49 3k last summer on July 4th in New Mexico in heat and altitude for 2nd place female, and I ran 35:12 for a 5 miler last year in a Nor’easter on Cape Cod for another age group win. I look forward to building more Masters’ highlights in the future.

Running Background
I ran in college occasionally with friends. I started running again around age 27, met Mike and trained on Wednesday nights at White Plains High School. I also got involved in summer biathlons, where you run a 5k loop and stop to shoot at targets with a .22 LR at miles 1 and 2. It was a lot of fun as the races often included USA Biathlon Team Olympians on off season training. As I got into my 30s, I became fully absorbed by my career and while I ran for stress relief, I did not train per se and the few race times I had showed it. I was also injury plagued whenever I was not training with Mike. It was during this period that I signed up for the Cape Cod Marathon as a first timer, thinking “it’s Cape Cod, it must be flat.” With little preparation, I finished, but did not fare well. While I ran Chicago the following year, I think it’s safe to say my marathon days are over. In 2006, after leaving the corporate rat race, I started training with Mike again, this time at Rockefeller’s on Tuesday mornings. With Mike’s training, I’ve improved greatly and have enjoyed age group wins at the 5k and 5 mile distances, placed in age group for the mile, and am injury free! I’ve learned the pain of the mile and for some strange reason I like it. I enjoy the camaraderie that comes with training and competition. I hope to run well as I head into my 50s and I firmly believe in the glorious anti-oxidant properties of red wine.