For Derry's LeFrancois family, running is a family affair.
At the recent TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K, a famous race in Maine that's held on the first weekend of August, seven members of the LeFrancois family were on hand.
Former Pinkerton trackster Paul LeFrancois ran the race and took the time to explain why running is so popular in his family, the difficulty of the course, and how he's preparing for the upcoming college season in this week's First and 10:
Who else ran with you?
Andrew LeFrancois my twin brother, Matt one of my older brothers, Suzi my older sister, and David my father. The other Paul is my uncle, and Jan LeFrancois his wife.
Whose idea was it for all of you to run together?
A couple years ago, I first joined my dad and my sister, who were running in it. They've run almost every year it's gone on because we're usually up in Maine on vacation in the first week of August. My aunt and uncle who live in South Carolina will occasionally come up. They're into fitness. They wanted to run the race as well. My brother Andrew got into running about a year and a half ago and he's steadily improved. He wanted to try a 10K this year. When Matt saw how many others were doing it, he wanted to as well. It sort of built momentum over time.
Has running always been popular with your family?
My dad has always been running. I first got into it in middle school. Both Andrew and I have asthma. I started running to fight that. I started running in high school. I think the fact that our dad was so consistent with his own running when we were growing up sort of imprinted on us as well.
How difficult is it to deal with the asthma?
In my case, it was sort of sparked after having pneumonia. I was only 3 or 4 years old. It seems like the asthma sort of peaked in elementary and middle school, and running has helped strengthen my lungs and improve the situation.
Have you always liked to run as a family?
Growing up, it was more so just going out and having fun, not organized, but sort of playing around with kids in the neighborhood. There was always something to do with other kids, like baseball or soccer or whatever. We always wanted to be out and doing things. I think that's a good way to grow up.
How difficult was the course?
It's usually the case that the winner posts the fastest recognized 10K time in the nation. I think this year it was 27:51 for the winner. The first mile is particularly fast because it's a gradual downhill and there are some rolling hills throughout the course, but it tends to be a faster course.
Is it very competitive or more of a family race?
It's a combination of the two. I think the race has grown in popularity. Last year we weren't able to run it because it filled up too much by the time we tried to get numbers. This year we ended up registering for the race the first day we could because we knew it would fill up quickly. This year they went over capacity. I think around 5,700 people ran, and there's usually a group of elite runners that start a few minutes before everyone else. They have numbers under 150, so (with men and women), that's 300 or so run in the elite division. It does attract decent competition.
Is running races better for training than running alone?
I think it's a combination of the two that you need. For next year, the coach at Dickinson recommends that athletes only do two or three road races, if any, during the summer. It's been explained to me that, physically, you push your body to almost a total failure point if you're racing all out. That's different than the kind of running you do when there's surges and speed play. Different things happen in the body if you just race every week. I like running with so many people, but I also like running on my own or with teammates and family members from time to time.
You and your brother also ran in the Green Mountain Relay. What was that like?
That was a lot of fun. I think what made it so much fun is how optimistic and good-natured everyone on the team was about adversity we came across. Everyone had fun and just enjoyed running for the weekend. None of us had done a relay like that before. I don't think I've ever run off of so little sleep, so that was a new experience for me.
Are you all ready for the school running season to start up?
In about a week and a half, I'll be heading down to Pennsylvania for a cross country preseason camp. I'm feeling excited about it. I'm a little nervous because it's my first college season, but I think it will be a lot of fun and worthwhile.
