Women's Running and Women Runners

Do you know Trisha Meili?

In 1989 I was 30 years old. I was still a heavy smoker and was just starting the uphill career climb. I never even thought about running. But along with the rest of the country I was mesmerized by the horror of the brutal attack in New York's Central Park of a young woman dubbed only the "Central Park Jogger" to protect her anonymity.

Senselessly attacked while running on the night of April 19th, along with seven unfortunate others, newscasters all over the country continuously ran stories of this unnamed woman's terrible injuries, followed the early days of her recovery, then later meticulously covered the trials of the perpetrators. As it turned out, the young men responsible for the series of attacks in the park that night had randomly chosen their victims. They called it "wilding," a series of senseless, horrible acts committed against innocents guilty of nothing other than being the wrong place at the wrong time.

Trisha was definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time.

That night Trisha was raped, beaten and dragged into the woods. By the time she was discovered, she had lost 75% of her blood, had skull fractures and a crushed left eye socket. So brutal was the attack that her coworkers had to identify her body by the ring she wore. For 12 days she lay in a coma and was ultimately moved to a rehab facility in Connecticut where she relearned the ability to tell time, button a blouse, walk...and yes, finally to run again.

Meili has no memory of that night but it changed the course of her life forever. A former investment banker she ultimately decided to come out of anonymity and share her experience with others. She now does advocacy work and speaks on the topic of sexual-assault . She has shared her experiences in a book, I Am The Central Park Jogger: A Story of Hope and Possibility.

I read Trisha's story this evening in the most recent issue of Runners World and absolutely marveled at this beautiful woman's incredible bravery. "During my recovery, I wasn't caught up in what happened, a past I couldn't change," she said. "Wallowing in the past or worrying about the future wasn't going to help. Working in the present was the right place to focus my energy." Amazing! And with a sense of humor she adds that if she hadn't been in a coma she would have objected to the media calling her a "jogger." "To me, the sense of a jogger is that you're just flitting around. I always thought of myself as a runner." Well, it was 1989.

I read Trisha's story with tears in my eyes and more than a bit of wonderment. How strange it is that our lives can be completely changed by seemingly random acts. MIssing a train or someone stealing your cab can completely change everything about your life. It's all such a mystery.

As for Trisha, she still runs in Connecticut where she now lives and yes - sometimes she runs alone.

She survived it. I think Trisha is one of those people I am going to think about often...bravery beyond.