WIFE, MOTHER, TEACHER, COACH, AND OH YES, A RUNNER Susan Bessin wants more than anything to be consistent with her running. After all, the 42 year old Madison woman knows that if she can just train consistently she can also race consistently well. As evidence is her fourth place finish in the USATF-NJ long distance running grand prix. But getting out to run is not always easy for this wife and mother of two children. She is a full time teacher at Mountain Lakes High School, where she also coached for several years. Currently she is in charge of the recreation program at Madison and is a volunteer coach at Madison High School where her daughter Melissa Iskandar competes on the cross country and track team. Melissa is following in her mother's footsteps. Bessin competed for Madison High School as a sprinter and hurdler and the occasional field events. |
"I did the one hundred and four hundred hurdles," said Bessin. "I threw the discus and the shot if they needed me."
In college Bessin was on the field hockey team but in her senior year she started running again. She joined the Sneaker Factory running team, and according to coach Dean Shonts, Bessin was one of the better runners in the state.
Then Bessin's life took on the flavor of adventure and romance. She spent two years in Japan and four in Indonesia as an English teacher. It was in Indonesia that she met and married her husband. They moved to the United States in 1996 with their two children and settled in Madison. Life was busy and centered on the children and family, not running, which was sporadic.
"That's always been my challenge - consistency," said Bessin.
Her training may have been sporadic but enough that she was racing again and doing well. In 2007 Bessin managed to find the time to train consistently and began to rack up points in the grand prix.
"I got myself in shape to run the St. Paddy's ten miler in Freehold," she said. "And I ran the rest of the year."
She finished the ten mile in 1:11:46, helping her Open women's team to place second. At the Run for Rachel 5K in Livingston in April, which was the Open women's championship she finished in 19:25. At the Newport 10,000, again running for the Open women's team she finished the 10K in 43:04 with her team placing first.
At the Ridgewood 10K in May, which was the Masters championship she finished in 41:02, two minutes faster than at Newport. Her time at the President's Cup Night race 5K was 19:28.
After the summer break, Bessin came back with a 1:30:05 at the Liberty Waterfront Half Marathon in Jersey City, helping the Sneaker Factory Open team to score fourth and the W40 team to take second.
It was in October that Bessin had her biggest thrills in racing in 2007 when she won both of the USATF-NJ cross country races.
"That was a really fun experience for me, having never run cross country in high school," she said. "So I've never lead a race because I'm always running with men."
"I was very nervous. In the 5K I sort of broke away at a mile and a half and I was sure that people were going to come back," said Bessin. "So I was kind of running scared."
There was no need to be scared. Bessin finished the Holmdel Park 5K course in 20:38 with second place well back in 21:02. It was a closer race at the Deer Path Park 8K race.
"In the 8K there was somebody with me and I thought around four miles, 'If I can just stay next to her I can out-sprint her. If I can just hold on. I hope my sprinting can sprint in.'"
That sprinters speed put ten seconds between Bessin and her rival, with Bessin winning the race in 32:42 with second place at 32:52.
Her times were going steadily down through the fall and at the Giralda Farms 10K she finished in 40:21, 41 seconds faster than her Ridgewood Run in May. At the Great Swamp Devil 15K in Basking Ridge her time was an impressive 1:01:31.
The grand prix tests runners from 3K to half marathon and that suits Bessin just fine. She says she has no favorite distance.
"I kind of like mixing it up," she says. "I think that's what keeps it interesting for me. I enjoy doing a mixture of different distances."
Because of her busy schedule Bessin runs five times a week in a good week but makes sure that she does quality even if lacking mileage. She gets in one long run of eleven or twelve miles and one hill run or one track workout.
"I don't do a lot of mileage but I try to do what counts," she said.
Her dedication to her training and racing has counted a lot for the Sneaker Factory team according to Shonts.
"She was the one who raced the most," said Shonts. "She won the two cross country championships. She was a big help. She was the leader of our team."
That praise goes farther than just running for the team. Shonts admires Bessin's balance.
"She's always been so pleasant. So low key," said Shonts. "She took her running seriously but it wasn't her entire life. She's always had her family. You see some people who are as good as Susan and their entire life is so encompassed in it. But she is not like that at all. She is very low key and nice."
Originally published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey on Sunday, January 6, 2008
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2008
