Tamone closes in on 1,000 miles

Sherry Tamone readily admits she loves data.

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That bit of information isn't too surprising considering the 49-year-old Juneau resident is an assistant professor of marine biology at the University of Alaska Southeast. Her love of all things quantifiable, however, has led to a remarkable observation.

Tamone is just 7.8 miles away from running 1,000 miles this year.

"I found out it's like running from Juneau to Haines on the ferry, then from Haines to Prudhoe Bay," Tamone said. "If you track your miles and go about 20 miles a week, it's fast to see it go in the 100s and then the 800s. Then it's like I can do a 1,000."

Although Tamone says she's sure some Juneau runners have logged 2,000 miles or more, her path to 1,000 is a remarkable journey.

3 steps to 1,000 miles

Here are three things that helped Sherry Tamone run nearly 1,000 miles in 2007

Stay consistent: Tamone said she runs four to five times a week during her lunch hour. She admits she's not always the fastest runner, but she's always out there.

Stay social: Tamone runs with friends J.J. Vollenweider and Sandi Woods. "It's a good way to know somebody. You learn a lot by running an hour," Tamone said.

Count the miles: Tamone has kept track of how many miles she's run this year. "When I was in the 925 (mile) range, I knew I could get to 1,000. It's a neat milestone," she said.

She overcame a torn meniscus in her right knee that caused her to miss about a month of running. She also ran her first marathon this season with her running buddy, J.J. Vollenweider.

"Sherry is bubbly, outgoing, friendly and very young at heart," Vollenweider said. "She's just tons of fun to hang out with."

Tamone started running in the 1980s in an effort to kick a smoking habit. She dropped the smokes, but running evolved into the habit that stuck.

She also started logging her runs. She still has notebooks from the 1980s that show how far and how long she jogged.

"I started running to stop smoking ... but in itself it becomes its own obsession," Tamone said. "You don't eat at 11 a.m. because you're running at noon. Some are really intense about it. It's also really good for moods, especially in this season, if you have a desk job."

She's since upgraded her notebooks to a global positioning system that tracks things such as elevation along with time and distance. Tamone also uses the Web site www.runningahead.com to help her keep track.

The Garmin GPS system allows Tamone to see her runs on her computer.

"It's kind of fun to look back and see how long I did on the last run," she said.

What's allowed her to zero in on the 1,000-mile milestone, however, isn't solely data and notebooks.

It's also about consistency and friendship.

Tamone said she runs between four or five times a week and logs about 20 miles. She runs primarily on her lunch hour with a friend or two.

"When I was in my 20s, I used to like to run alone," she said. "Now, which helps with motivation, having someone call you up and say, 'I'll meet you there at noon,' is perfect. With J.J., we can talk or not talk, but we never run out of things to talk about it."

That consistency is important, especially in a such a wet environment as Juneau.

"The thing that's really good is she's very consistent," Vollenweider said. "When the weather is bad, she'll drag me out of the office and go when it's slushy."

Tamone and company run mostly on the trails rather than the pavement.

In addition to the ease on the joints, running the East Glacier Trail or Dredge Lake can provide even more motivation.

"We trained for the marathon 90 percent (of the time) on the trails," Tamone said. "Herbert Glacier, East Glacier, it's so awesome. We've seen bears, wolves. It's such a great place to run."

• Contact sports editor Tim Nichols at 523-2228 or sports@juneauempire.com.