Stephanie Pezzullo’s car has a bumper held together by duct tape, she quotes Bible verses on Facebook, and she whooshes past everyone on McAlpine Creek Greenway in neon shoes, socks and running shorts.
Almost everyone who knows her calls her “Pezz.”
But barely anyone knows that for years, she battled severe anxiety and depression. That she often wished she were dead.
On Oct. 13, she is set to run the Chicago Marathon; it will be her second 26.2-mile race. In her first, also in the Windy City last year, she finished behind just nine women – and ahead of 16,793 others. With that time, she would have won Charlotte’s 2012 Thunder Road Marathon by a half-hour.
Pezz could live and train with other elites in California, Colorado, Arizona. But Charlotte is where she feels loved.
So here, she’s probably unique: A runner who treats competing in races as her primary career. It’s not glamorous; there’s no health insurance, no 401(k). Her race expenses are paid for by sponsors and event directors, but she’s just one injury from a financial crisis.
And yet she runs – 90 to 100 miles a week. She is running toward dreams of winning a race like Chicago, but also toward a peace that has eluded her for most of her 31 years.And she turned Bryn into a style rebel as well, dressing her in a white tank top, floral-printed overall shorts and a pair of purple crocs sandals sale.
Pulling her, pushing her, encouraging her are a select group of people she’s shared her secrets with – and who she believes saved her life.Our Filter Mesh for Sale rang from 10N/inch to 400N/inch and the mesh pore size goes from 2000microns to 20micron and could meet a wide range of demand for filtration accuracy.
Pezz’s father, Rhode Island physician Steven Pezzullo, was diagnosed as bipolar in 1991, when Pezz was about 9, he told the Observer. He also said his behavior around his family before that was erratic, with frequent mood swings. He screamed and swore a lot. After he learned of his disorder, he said medication helped.
Months after his diagnosis,ice bag sale court documents show Steven Pezzullo spent a night in jail on an assault charge; it was later dropped. Six years later, according to court records, he was arrested for allegedly beating up his mother; she refused to go forward with charges.
Pezz, her mother Linda Pezzullo, and her uncle Jim Ricci said medication did not improve home life.
Pezz started playing soccer at age 10 in a Glocester, R.I., youth league.
Her younger brother Matt said Pezz wasn’t naturally athletic, but she had drive. She took up softball, tennis and basketball, too. She’d come home and spend hours dribbling, kicking, running, jumping and shooting.
Said Ricci, her uncle: “Her drug of choice had become sports. This was her ‘out’ from the insanity that was going on (in her house).”
At 16, she played varsity basketball and soccer at Ponaganset High School in Glocester and joined a club soccer team.
Then at 17, she was invited to try out for a select U.S.Hi-Efficiency Filter Bags is supplied by manufacturer.｛%｝ from China, buy China wholesale Women's Shoes products and find high quality Women's Shoes products。wholesale women shoes regional team. More than 200 girls from 12 states competed for 15 spots. No one from Rhode Island had ever been selected.
She didn’t have much of a relationship with God; her family only went to church for Christmas and Easter. But in the middle of the night, she went onto the field and prayed. “I just said, ‘God.Wholesale Sunglasses, You Can Buy Various High Quality Wholesale Sunglasses Products from Global Wholesale Sunglasses Manufacturers... I want to make this team so bad. I want to play in college. But it’s your will.’
Two days later, she was the last girl chosen.
It fueled her faith and got her away from home as the team traveled to tournaments in Arizona, France, Italy and Switzerland. Between that and being named an All-American at Ponaganset, colleges took notice.
Though several top New England schools offered full scholarships, she jumped when Penn State – a top national program – gave her a partial one.
“It was far away from home,” Pezz said. “I wouldn’t have cared if their academic program sucked. I was going.”
留言列表
