ROME – Pat Hamel is a physical therapist for Rome Memorial Hospital’s Physical Therapy department at Chestnut Commons. When he is not helping others reach their physical goals, he is setting new ones for himself.
Pat is a long distance runner and on July 22, he set out to improve his personal-best time in the Wakely Dam Ultra wilderness run.
Before we tell you how he did, here’s some background on the run. The course is 32.6 miles long (that’s 52.5K) over wilderness terrain. Runners navigate rocks, tree roots, hills, streams, a river, and narrow boards across swamps. The “extreme” trail runs through the Adirondack Park wilderness between Piseco Lake and Wakely Dam. The race web site points out that there are no crossroads or aid stations and runners must be prepared to complete the entire run. “It’s just you, the trail and like-minded runners”.
“The day was cool and overcast,” Pat said. “Three hours in, it started to rain and by the fourth hour, it was pouring. The trail became a stream and it slowed me down.”
But not enough to matter. Pat not only beat his own time, but set a new course record – five hours and five minutes. Race officials said “no human has ever completed the 32.6 miles faster” than Pat Hamel!
Patrick has been running for 19 years. At age 13 he joined the school track team. “I started with one mile, worked up to three miles, six miles and then marathons,” he explained. Pat suggests that runners should start with basic, easy training and increase distance gradually.
After years of marathon running, Pat wanted a different challenge. “I like running on trails,” he said. “The trails are more demanding and to be competitive, I graduated to the longer races.”
Pat first entered the Wakely Dam Ultra run in 2003. He took first place that year with a time of five hours, 36 minutes. When he began training, he used a heart monitor to monitor his heart rate and help pace himself. Pat prepared for the 2006 run for six months. He continued to monitor himself with the heart monitor. He also checked his time at checkpoints along the route such as a stream or river. “When training for this year’s race, my long run was three to four hours over hills and trails,” Pat said. “It is important to learn how to keep your pace while stepping over rocks and roots and changing direction.”
Pat has been a physical therapist for nine years. It is a career he enjoys because “I like the idea of using exercise to improve patients’ health,” he said.
He lives by the same philosophy.
Even if you don’t expect to be running a marathon any time soon - especially an “ultra” race – you may want to improve your strength, stamina and overall good health. Here are Pat’s pointers:
Assess where you are and what you are presently capable of;
Establish short term and long term goals;
Develop a plan based on your current fitness and your goals;
Monitor your workout and your progress. Allow yourself rest or easy days and listen to your body.
“These are the same steps we use in developing a treatment plan for our patients,” Pat explained.
There aren’t any other extreme runs in Pat’s near future. “Just one a year,” he said. “Your body adapts to the stress, but you have to allow it to rest – give it time to recover.” Instead he is running after his two small children ages one and a half and four.
Patrick lives in Holland Patent with his wife, Lila, and their children, Nathan and Jonathon.
