In the early morning hours on May 1st, Speech-Language Pathologist Steve Gorman will set out for a grueling run of 26.2 miles through the streets of Cincinnati, OH. He is participating in the “Flying Pig” marathon and with every step, he is helping to raise funds for research to generously support the National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association. Steve has set a goal of $2,500 and a donor will be matching the funds for a total of $5,000. We hope you will help and support Steve in this endeavor. Donate now! More...
Professionally, Steve is a voice pathologist at the Blaine Block Institute for Voice Analysis and Rehabilitation, a division of Dayton Head and Neck Surgeons, Inc. He received his Bachelor of Science from Bowling Green State University, his Master of Science from University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his Ph.D. from University of Cincinnati. He is active in the Greater Dayton Spasmodic Dysphonia Support Group and was a speaker at the 2010 NSDA Eastern Regional Symposium.
From the Steve:
I guess I can say I have been running almost nonstop for 25 years now. I started by training for a 10-miler when I was a grad student at Wisconsin, the Volksfest Run in Waunakee, WI (the world’s only Waunakee!) That eventually led to trying the marathon: Los Angeles in 1987. I moved to Palm Springs in 1986 after finishing my degree at Wisconsin (really wanted to go someplace warm!) While there I entered San Diego twice (didn’t finish either one due to a knee problem), and Long Beach twice (finished both!) in addition to LA. Then I moved back to Ohio and did a few more: New York City, Pittsburgh, Disney-Orlando, and Memphis. I also ran two 50K (31 miles) ultra-marathons in this same time span.
About this time I started the doctoral program at University of Cincinnati, and my marathoning career went on hiatus. I continued to run for fitness and ran in local 5K and 10K races. After I finished doctoral studies in 2002, I started to think about another marathon, but I didn’t want to do it just for myself. Marathoning can be quite an “all about me” endeavor, and I had done enough of that. My niece ran a marathon a couple of years ago for Team in Training/Leukemia Society. I thought that would be the way to go. I considered doing this last year, but my body kept telling me “you aren’t ready.” I lost 10 lbs. over the summer on a backpacking trip with my two sons, Andy and Ben, and it’s amazing how that 10 lbs. equates into my joints feeling pretty good after a long run! My boys both run on the cross country team at Mariemont High School and their success this past 2 years (back to back league championships, state qualifiers!) further inspired me and my training. Now I feel ready for the physical challenge, as well as the challenge of raising money for the NSDA. Since the Dayton Support Group has been up and running (no pun intended) for over a year now, the indomitable will of the members of the group has given me the will to take on this challenge.
What else can I say about running? I met my wife through running! A physical therapist, with whom I worked in Palm Springs, and I were trying to put together a marathon relay team for the “Jimmy Stewart Relay Marathon” in Griffith Park in LA in 1988. We wanted to put together a co-ed team and needed one more female runner. An occupational therapist on the team knew that her daughter’s 2nd grade teacher was a very good runner and thought she might do it. Well, to make a long story short, it was love at first work-out. Cindy, who married me two years later, was a college All-American in cross country and track and still holds the school and conference record in the 10,000 meters track race (that was in 1985 mind you!) Her fastest time in the marathon, of which she’s run about 30, is 2:52! That’s pretty darn fast for 26.2 miles. I got very used to looking at her back on training runs and races, since she was always ahead of me. I didn’t feel too bad about it because almost all of our running friends were getting the same view, including the men!
I was going to do this last year, but got injured during my training. Now, I’m healthy and looking forward to running on May 1 for the NSDA and the Greater Dayton Support Group!”
Support Steve today!