Adirondack Sports March 2024
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MARCH <strong>2024</strong> 29<br />
2021 CARDIAC CLASSIC WITH<br />
COACH ROCKY, NISKAYUNA HS.<br />
BOSTON MARATHON 2015,<br />
FINISHER WITH MEDAL.<br />
trade the relationships built with my<br />
teammates for anything.”<br />
Let’s get back to that journey. We<br />
should all know that it isn’t linear, but<br />
chasing PRs certainly warps our sense<br />
of reality. Shouldn’t it always be onward<br />
and upward? Louis hit plenty of PRs in<br />
high school and then they became a<br />
moving target in college. This story plays<br />
out every year for athletes across the<br />
country, so where does the journey take<br />
you? Well, you’ve got to keep chugging<br />
along to find out.<br />
Post-college Lou has many checkboxes<br />
next to his name. He could have taken it<br />
easy after college and pursued other interests,<br />
but as he eased back a little, the joy<br />
came back. He truly loved running.<br />
When asked about how his training<br />
has changed over the years Louis says,<br />
“I’ve gotten more relaxed with my training<br />
2012 ELLIS MEDICINE CARDIAC<br />
CLASSIC 5K WITH FAMILY.<br />
over the years. Not when it comes to training<br />
volume, but my attitude is more laid<br />
back. In high school or college, I would be<br />
anxious if I had a bad workout or missed<br />
a day of running. Now I’ve learned that<br />
it’s important to listen to your body and<br />
go with the flow. For this past marathon<br />
build – leading into the <strong>2024</strong> US Olympic<br />
Team Trials Marathon in Orlando on Feb.<br />
3, I ran 100-120 miles a week and did two<br />
workouts – one on Wednesday and one<br />
in my long run over the weekend. In high<br />
school I ran very low mileage, which I am<br />
grateful for. I feel like it gave me more room<br />
to grow as opposed to being burned out.”<br />
More relaxed and yet running at the<br />
<strong>2024</strong> Olympic Marathon Trials in 2:17:09<br />
and 35th overall! It sounds like it can’t be<br />
true, but when you feel you’ve got more to<br />
give why not? He also ran in the 2016 and<br />
2020 Trials.<br />
“I always felt like there was more in the<br />
tank so I just kept going,” Lou said. “I try to<br />
set little goals to keep me going. First it was<br />
to qualify for the Boston Marathon, then<br />
it was to qualify for Olympic Marathon<br />
Trials, then I wanted to break 14 minutes in<br />
the 5K (13:48 at 5000 meters in 2020), and<br />
break four minutes in the mile (3:59:33 in<br />
2018, 514th American to do it) – a lifelong<br />
chase, my favorite running memory! Then<br />
run 2:15 in the marathon (2:14:59 at 2022<br />
California International Marathon). You<br />
just have to keep raising the bar and giving<br />
yourself things to shoot for. My favorite<br />
running memory is breaking four minutes<br />
in the mile; it was a long chase!”<br />
These days, there’s not much left he<br />
wants to do... Lou said, “I would like to run<br />
a really good Boston and to get as close to<br />
2:10 as I can.” Look out Boston 2025!<br />
Three Olympic Marathon Trials and a<br />
list of PRs post college; all when running<br />
was fun. What about work life? After all,<br />
just because you qualify three times for<br />
the Olympic Trials, it doesn’t mean you<br />
have a lucrative shoe contract! Armed<br />
with a marketing degree, Lou started with<br />
a public relations firm. A Boston College<br />
track alumnus was looking for students<br />
for an internship, which then turned into<br />
a full-time gig – it could have been a perfect<br />
job in Boston. But it was the part-time<br />
weekend gig at Heartbreak Hill Running<br />
Company that brought joy.<br />
After receiving an offer to match his<br />
salary to manage the store, he jumped<br />
into the running industry full-time. After<br />
four years managing the store, he was<br />
tapped to run the Boston Trackhouse for<br />
Tracksmith, an independent company<br />
that makes premium running gear for<br />
training, racing and all conditions. From<br />
there he has moved into a role as head<br />
of global events and community initiatives<br />
which includes sports marketing<br />
and team partnerships. Lou mentioned,<br />
“I’m super proud of what we can do for<br />
amateur athletes at Olympic Trials. We’re<br />
a small company and don’t have budgets<br />
of the bigger brands so we chose to support<br />
150 amateur athletes, instead of just<br />
sponsoring two or three pros. Every athlete<br />
works so hard to get to the next level.<br />
We’ve had some unbelievable athletes go<br />
on to be a pro including Keira D’Amato,<br />
Cravont Charleston and Kara Winger.<br />
We’ve had national champions, US record<br />
holders, and Olympians... It’s crazy.”<br />
Lou continued, “The other half of my<br />
job is organizing community events and<br />
spreading the joy of running to as many<br />
people as we can. I’m lucky to work somewhere<br />
I’m passionate about every single<br />
day.” Isn’t that what we all want and definitely<br />
want for our kids? What advice does<br />
Lou have for those who want to pursue a<br />
career that aligns with their passion? “For<br />
anyone who wants to work in running, it’s<br />
important to say yes to as many opportunities<br />
as possible. Networking and hustling<br />
were the keys for me. Don’t be afraid<br />
to ask questions and work outside your<br />
job description.”<br />
It’s something of a full circle that<br />
Louis fosters an incredible community<br />
for running in Boston and internationally<br />
through Tracksmith after his parents<br />
introduced him to the run community<br />
early on. Lou says, “the cool thing about<br />
community is that it’s not a one-size<br />
fits all; it’s anything that brings people<br />
together. As long as there are people who<br />
are willing to bring people together and<br />
people who want to run, there will always<br />
be community. It’s about consistency,<br />
authenticity and opportunity.”<br />
On the personal side, Lou and his<br />
fiancé, Gabi Drummond, are engaged to<br />
be married later this year. She just finished<br />
her PhD in Neuroscience from MIT. Gabi’s<br />
also an accomplished runner and ran the<br />
Olympic Marathon Trials in 2020. She’s<br />
from Wappingers Falls but they met in<br />
Boston through the running world. They<br />
have two dogs, Meredith a standard poodle<br />
and Honey a mini poodle with three<br />
legs; both dogs love running and routinely<br />
run Lou’s doubles with him.<br />
Locally, Lou makes his annual pilgrimage<br />
home for Thanksgiving, and has<br />
won the Ellis Medicine Cardiac Classic<br />
5K for 15 straight years, and has won the<br />
MVP Health Care Stockade-athon 15K<br />
three times.<br />
Mantras guide and inspire us so I<br />
asked Lou for his: Patient and relaxed<br />
early, aggressive and tough late. When<br />
you’re on a journey, filled with joy and<br />
some frustration to meet your goals, this<br />
is a pretty awesome mantra! Where will<br />
your journey take you and will it be filled<br />
with joy?<br />
Kristen Hislop (hislopcoaching@gmail.<br />
com) is a USA Triathlon and Ironman<br />
U coach, and race director for the<br />
Delightful Run for Women (formerly<br />
Freihofer’s). The Hislop Coaching motto<br />
is “Do–Believe–Achieve” because she feels<br />
everyone is destined for greatness. She is<br />
a proud mother to two boys who run in<br />
college and her husband completed his<br />
first 70.3 triathlon in 2023.
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