Joyce faces ‘biggest challenge’

PARKERSBURG - Tom Joyce is now ready for his 'biggest challenge.'


The Parkersburg native has tackled various road runs in his continuing effort to lose weight, but sees running in Saturday's News and Sentinel Half Marathon as maybe his toughest challenge yet.


The 35-year-old Joyce, a member of city council, weighs 270 pounds now, but has lost between 170 and 175 pounds over the past five years.


'I've been big all my life and about five years ago, I just decided that I was going to lose some weight, which I had done previously several times,' he related.


'I played football and wrestled in high school, so I knew how to exercise, lift weights and work out. The first 30 or 40 pounds are always the easiest to lose, but this time, I just kind of kept going after losing that much.'


Eventually, his regimen included running.


'I decided to start running in June of 2008,' said Joyce. 'I ran my first race, the Belpre 4-mile, in July of last year. There was running on my part, but a lot of walking too. It took me well over a hour with that being my first race.'


A month later in August, he ran the News and and Sentinel men's 2-mile race in 36 minutes and then went to to run his first half marathon in early December in Las Vegas, 'and it's just kind of progressed from there,' said Joyce,


'I've had ups and downs - good weeks and bad weeks, painful runs and not-so painful runs - since I started running,' he admitted. 'But I do enjoy it just from an accomplishment standpoint when you finish the run.'


Joyce acknowledged that he was helped immensely in his News and Sentinel Half Marathon preparation by the River City Runners and Walkers Club's weekly Monday evening training sessions for Saturday's event. 'That's been a huge, huge help,' he said.


'Training's tough, and this training's been really hard,' said Joyce. 'But the Rivers City Runners do a great job with the training sessions. Really for me, even now, anything over seven miles is taxing, especially on the joints. I don't run fast enough to get myself winded to where I'm kind of huffing and puffing. But given still being as big as I am, it's hard on my knees and ankles, the right one in particular, but it's rewarding. It has its moments when you finish.'


Joyce's goal for News and Sentinel Half Marathon 'is to just finish. I would love to beat my time from Las Vegas, which was a 3:06 (3 hours, 6 minutes). But it was about 55 degrees at 6 a.m. in December when I ran that and the course was as flat as a pancake.'


His running partner Saturday in the half marathon is new Parkersburg High School head wrestling coach Chris Way, 'a good friend of mine,' said Joyce. 'It's always better to run with someone, and I've always done better that way.'


Nevertheless, for Joyce, 'Running is definitely the hardest thing I've ever done. And the most I've ever run at one time is 15 miles, and that was several months ago.'


Joyce got into running because of News and Sentinel 2-mile run director Sharon Marks. 'She kind of convinced me a couple years ago to start running a little bit,' said Joyce. 'The first time out, we ran for two miles, running for 30 seconds and then walking for 30 seconds at a time.'


Joyce has 'done a little bit of everything in the last few years - swimming, running, cycling, walking, a lot of weight training, different exercise classes - but nothing burns calories like running.'


After Las Vegas, Joyce ran in the Pittsburgh half marathon in May and one other 10-mile race, 'but this is my biggest challenge,'he said.


'And this one is different for me,' said Joyce, 'because first, it's in my hometown, so I'll see a lot of people who I know, and No. 2, it's a TOUGH course. It's hilly, it's August, it'll probably be hot and humid. But I'm really looking forward to it, but also to getting this race behind me.'


Although now at age 35, Joyce states, 'I feel better and I'm healthier than I was five years ago - that's the most important things. Plus, now I've got more energy and I enjoy life more.' However, Joyce says, 'Honestly, I'd like to lose another 40 pounds or so.'


One Sunday morning during his half marathon training, Joyce ran the course, and said the infamous 13th Street Hill 'is hands down,' the worst part of the course, 'not only for me, but a lot of others too I understand.'


And Joyce does expect 'to walk portions of this course Saturday. I hate to say that, but that's just the reality of it.'


To which Joyce, always the jokester, added, 'I don't run fast enough; you can't tell if I'm running or walking anyway.'