Former St. Teresa running star regains her stride through local running group
DECATUR, Ill. (BVM) — It’s 6 a.m. on a breezy Friday morning in Decatur, Ill. Despite the sun barely creeping above the surrounding buildings, the Coffee Connection parking lot is a flurry of activity.
Multiple cars are already waiting in line for the drive-through to order their morning caffeine fix. Meanwhile, off to the side of the parking lot, there are multiple people adjusting the laces of their shoes, talking to one another or dynamically stretching.
These runners are a part of the Decatur Fleet Feet’s “Running is NOT cancelled” group — a group that has aimed to help people safely stay active throughout the pandemic. Runner Ivy Handley credits the group for helping her stay motivated to run throughout the stages of lockdown in Illinois.
Handley ran on the cross country varsity team at St. Teresa High School in Decatur. During her time on the team (2009-13), St. Teresa claimed three consecutive Division 1A IHSA cross country state championships. In addition to the Bulldogs winning as a team her senior year, Handley ended her high school career on a high note through her own individual first place finish at state.
After high school, Handley continued her running career at Eastern Illinois University (EIU). A runner since middle school, Handley found herself feeling burnt out after finishing her final season with the EIU Panthers.
“After I graduated, I student-taught and I basically gave up running,” Handley said. “But at that point I was kind of over it anyways. I had been running competitively for over 10 years. I was like, ‘I need to step back.’”
Part of the reason Handley struggled to find the same passion in running after she graduated was due to running solo on a regular basis for the first time in her life.
“Basically, most of my career up to now had been on a team and I’ve always had a team to run with,” Handley stated. “The only time I ran by myself throughout my time in school was when I was at home on breaks or when we were having a ‘black-out week’ and the coach wasn’t allowed to be at practice.”
Even during these “black-out weeks,” Handley and her teammates would get together to run several miles. As Handley attempted to start running again on a regular basis, she began to look for running groups in her hometown so her passion could become a social activity again. Handley found her stride through Decatur’s Fleet Feet and the coffee runs they organize throughout the summer.
“When I finally joined in with Fleet Feet and their training programs, including their Coffee Connection runs on Friday mornings, I was finally able to have people to run with,” Handley said. “I met a few people my own age that I continued to run with outside of Coffee Connection.”
In addition to the running aspect of the group, Ivy also enjoys meeting at Coffee Connection because the runners will stay afterwards, order a coffee and talk at the tables outside. This routine ties in closely to what Ivy used to do when she was in school.
“As a side note, I used to always drink coffee before I would race,” Handley said. “It’s nice that we meet [at Coffee Connection] because I feel like most of the people that I run with and get coffee with wouldn’t be people I’d go out of my way to hang out with otherwise. So, it’s nice to have a group I can just do this with once a week, and that’s how I know them.”
Handley stated that it has been helpful to see her usual running group in a safe way during a time when she hasn’t been involved in a lot of other social activities.
“This has been a nice way to meet up and get out of the house to see people my own age,” Handley said. “I haven’t done a whole lot since the pandemic started outside of Zoom meetings.”
Handley commented that she might stop attending the Coffee Connection runs when it gets too cold in the mornings. However, if her running group is willing to still meet at 6 a.m. and wear several layers to fend off Illinois’ cold temperatures, then she said she will be there, no matter how cold it gets.
