Runners pound on

By: Crystal Yednak May 12, 2008

Arieh Shalhav, in picture at top left,  knows that some people use the term "nut" when they see him hit the pavement to run after recovering from injuries he suffered in two accidents. A dirt bike crash tore up his knee, requiring major reconstructive surgery; the other, a jet ski accident, crushed a vertebra. Both provide pretty good excuses for not running, given that it brings on pain in both places.

"But you're a doctor!" people say to Dr. Shalhav, perplexed as to why the 51-year-old would continue to pound on his sore spots.

For him, it's simple.

"Running is the best thing that somebody can do for his life," says Dr. Shalhav, chief of urologic surgery at the University of Chicago Medical Center. "The effects are way beyond physical; it's really mental. It makes you a positive person, an efficient person. I'm always trying to convince everybody around me, whoever is in contact with me, 'You have to start running.' "

As companies around Chicago sign up workers for races such as the May 22 J. P. Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge, other Dr. Shalhavs likely will be sticking their heads in cubicles and trying to give non-runners a taste of their addiction. Aficionados expect that at least a few of the runners who try a race for the first time this summer or watch from the curb might find themselves inducted into the runners club. Before long, they'll be throwing around lingo like "fartleks" as they talk about doing speed work, and logging the miles they've run in a particular shoe.

Co-workers are "initially like, 'What do you want? Leave me alone,' " Dr. Shalhav says. "Then slowly but surely they're getting into running."

He's persuaded a number of residents, fellows and other co-workers to join him in races, recently taking a group to Indianapolis for the half-marathon that is part of the Indy 500 festival. In winter, Dr. Shalhav runs with a group he calls the "Obsessive Compulsive Winter Lake Shore Running Group." Even though he feels pain at times during the cold runs — he describes it as needles poking his legs — Dr. Shalhav said a doctor checked it out and assured him the pain did not indicate that he was ruining his knee.

"I decided at one point if the pain is not a sign of damage, I'm going to ignore it," he says. He has continued with half-marathons and marathons and is now training for a triathlon (though he points out that he skipped the Boston Marathon because of the flu).

However, his doctors told him that the cartilage in his knee will wear down slowly, and at some point he probably won't be able to run through the pain.

Even people who don't particularly like running can't seem to give it up once they adopt the label of "runner." They are proud of tackling its physical demands, and it can energize tired efforts to lose weight or otherwise improve health. And it's constantly challenging: There's always another race and a chance to run longer or faster.

Rob Heppell, 43, a vice-president at Chicago-based Northern Trust Global Investments, transformed himself in a short time from "Rob the smoker" to "Rob the runner." He recently ran two marathons in eight days with a broken rib from a hiking trip in England.

"I was aiming to ignore it. I didn't want to know it was bad because I had a marathon coming up," he says.

Mr. Heppell eventually went to a doctor and asked if running would do further damage. "If it's just going to be painful — marathons are always painful," he says. "But I also don't want to do something that will stop me from leading my crazy life."

The first marathon, in London, went OK by his account, though he took a few jabs to the ribs in crowded areas of the race. By Boston, the broken rib didn't really bother him, he says.

He doesn't particularly like the act of running, but he loves the challenge of having to dig deep mentally to power himself through a tough part of a race.

"People know me not just as a runner, but a crazy runner," says Mr. Heppell, who keeps records of his races on a spreadsheet.

Not everyone gets the hype. Abby Zerivitz, 34, has tried running over the years but says the pounding takes a toll on her joints. She also finds it monotonous. Instead, Ms. Zerivitz, an account manager at an Evanston technology company, turned to Jim Karas Personal Training in Chicago to concentrate on core strength training.

"I know some people say running gives them the greatest high, but I have personally never found that," she says. When she sees runners on the streets, Ms. Zerivitz thinks they are gluttons for punishment. "I admire them. I just think they're a little nuts."

Colleen Mygatt, 38, a former vice-president and sales manager for the Chicago-based airport division of Clear Channel Corp., now exercises with weights, which she says yield better results with fewer injuries compared with running.

"Every time I turned around, there was a new ache or pain or a new injury that I attributed to running," says Ms. Mygatt, now a stay-at-home mother of four. "I understand a lot of people do it for a mental release; I get that. But as far as what it does for your body, it's a lot of wear and tear."

Many professionals, though, don't want to give up a sport that feeds their competitive urges.

Mike Barrett, 58, is a managing partner at Chicago law firm Chapman & Cutler LLP. He has won the most senior executive race at the Corporate Challenge 12 times, most recently in 2004.

When runners start competing in 12 to 15 races a year, as Mr. Barrett does, the faces of the other participants become familiar.

"Running allows me to still compete," he says. "I see the same people, and we've been competing for years in the same age group. You're unhappy about being slower, but the other guys are slowing down, too."

Jeff Vorreyer, 45, is application development manager at Chicago-based insurer CNA and director of CNA's running team, which includes runners of all levels, from "the boardroom to entry-level personnel," he says.

The running club, sometimes known as "Big Red" in honor of the tall, red CNA building, meets during lunch on the lakefront or on an outdoor track for speed work.

Accounting director Christine Martello, 33, would meet her mentor, who has since left the company, for six-mile lunchtime runs and career chats.

"If I'm not having the best of mornings, I'll go run at lunch. I come back and it's a whole new day," she says, even if it means returning to her desk red-faced from the workout.

On one particularly hot day, she continued to sweat even after her shower. The clerk at the cafeteria checkout line asked her if she was OK, and Ms. Martello explained that she had just been out with the running club.

Behind her in line was company Chairman and CEO Stephen Lilienthal, who praised her efforts and paid for her lunch.

Karlyn Callahan, 41, lead security architect at CNA, was a Chase Corporate Challenge championship finalist with Ms. Martello and other teammates last year. She says even co-workers she doesn't know will approach her in the elevator, lunchroom or hall and ask about her races. "It breaks the ice," she says.

Both Ms. Martello and Ms. Callahan say friends who run have asked them about openings at CNA because they view the club as a perk.

At Lisle-based Molex Inc., a global manufacturer of electronic connectors, an informal running club of 10 or 15 meets at lunch, runs around the neighborhood near the Lisle offices, then washes up in the company fitness center.

Dan Klein, 50, a manufacturing engineer at Molex, races in 5Ks and marathons. His co-workers and fellow runners support each other as they train for races such as the Boston Marathon, and during the holidays, they have a runners' lunch and name a runner of the year. The group breaks down barriers between employees, he says: "You get to talk with people you may have never talked to one-on-one if you were not running."

That includes the big boss.

Martin Slark is CEO for most of the day. But from noon to 1 p.m., "he's someone going out for a run," says Gene Callaghan, a fellow runner and supervisor at the company.

"I like that very much," Mr. Slark says.

©2008 by Crain Communications Inc.

.Regular runners at Molex include Dan Klein, top left, in white top, and Gene Callaghan, in red and white top.

At right, they hit the streets: Mr. Callaghan, from left, with Dave Johnson, Connie Hesslau, Wei Shi, Mr. Klein and Dave Stevenson.

Arieh Shalhav