Wilton-native Donegan takes aim at fast times for today’s Firecracker4 road race

Jul 04, 2010

By: Nicole Russo

: Wilton’s Sean Donegan goes for a morning job in Saratoga Spa State Park on July 1. Donegan will compete in this morning’s Firecracker4, on Broadway. (ERICA MILLER/The Saratogian)

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Several adjectives might be used to describe local runner Shaun Donegan. Active. Spontaneous. Involved. Hard-working.

And, oh yeah — fast.

Donegan has consistently put his name at the top of local race results. He hopes to continue that trend in this morning’s Firecracker4.

“I’ve been getting faster every year, which is good,” said Donegan, a 2004 Saratoga Springs graduate from Wilton. “I didn’t know I was going to end up with this kind of success.”

Surprisingly for an athlete who’s found a good deal of success in a community of competitive runners, Donegan never competed as a varsity runner in high school or at SUNY Oswego. He picked up recreational running during his collegiate days as a way to stay fit.

“I started running 5Ks on my college campus and some local 5Ks,” Donegan said. “I knew I was pretty quick from when I was playing football, I did BMX riding and racing when I was a kid, things like that. … There were two [5Ks] a year on campus and I would run in them. And I started racing on weekends wherever I could find one.”

After graduating from Oswego, Donegan moved back to his native area to take a position as a seventh-grade technology teacher in the Lansingburgh Central School District — a job he said he loves because it keeps him active and he gets to work with his hands.

After moving back to the area, Donegan, who currently lives in Mechanicville but considers himself a Saratogian, began running more frequently, partially thanks to the social aspects of the activity.

“It’s a way to meet friends, it’s a great way to network and meet people,” he said. “Coming back from college, I got out a year ahead of most of my friends. I really didn’t know anybody when I came back here.”

Donegan has found the local running community to be supportive.

He belongs to the Saratoga Stryders, counts RPI cross country assistant coach Jennifer Adams as a valuable training partner and friend, and met his girlfriend through running. He added that Saratoga Springs provides plenty of opportunity for friendly competition.

“There’s a series in Colonie I run in, a series in Saratoga I run in, and I just ran in a Wilton 5K series,” he said. “It’s easy to be a runner here because Saratoga is such a great town for it.”

He’s made the most of those racing opportunities. Consider the past two months alone: Donegan won the Literacy Run/Walk 5K in Troy on May 2, the Kristein LaVoy 5K in Saratoga on May 8 and the inaugural SPAC Rock and Run 5K — his fourth race that week — on May 23. He picked up another local win in the Literacy Read Run 5K on June 13.

On June 27, Donegan was in Lake George, where he finished 10th in a field of 549 in the Adirondack Distance Run 10-Miler. He returned home the next day to win the Camp Saratoga 5K Fun Run in Wilton.

Rather than citing any one win from his list of accolades, however, Donegan says he’s most proud of accomplishing personal improvement. He says he’s cut his personal-best time from around 18 minutes when he began competing seriously, down to the 15:48 he achieved winning last fall’s Run for the ROC.

“That was a really great event,” he said. “A good highlight of my career. I’m very proud of that.”

He’s not afraid to lose a race or two in the pursuit of that improvement, either.

“I enjoy racing people who are faster than me,” he said. “That’s only going to make me get better.”

What’s the secret to his improvement? Donegan says he tries to run every day, and he likes to race every weekend if something is available. He estimates that he logs about 55 miles each week training in the summer, when the weather is usually good and school isn’t in session. He can’t run as much in the winter, but says he stays active with a variety of sports year-round.

“I’m always out doing something,” he said. “Whether I’m cycling or rollerblading or hiking around. My kind of cross-training is during the winter I’ll go and play ice hockey, something like that.”

Always ready to try a different activity, Donegan has competed successfully in a variety of events. He finished ninth at the Camp Saratoga 8K snowshoe race in Wilton on Feb. 13. More recently, on May 24, he checked in at 21st out of a field of 195 at the Saratoga Springs Lions Club Duathlon — an event that consisted of a 5K run, a 20-mile bike race, and another 5K run.

To say Donegan likes being active may be a bit of an understatement. In addition to his full-time teaching job and his busy athletic schedule, he works in the summers at Murphy’s miniature golf course on Route 9.

And saying that it’s “important to give back,” he is also active in some volunteer programs in the community. One he’s particularly enthusiastic about is Saratoga Healthy Transportation, an organization that repairs donated bicycles and gives them to local residents who can’t afford new bicycles.

“We give them back locally, which is pretty cool,” he said. “They go to kids all around the Saratoga area. I like that I get to work with my hands and build stuff. I love just fixing anything.”

Despite his constant activity, Donegan says he doesn’t keep a strict schedule for his training, and when it comes to competing, he frequently uses race-day registration.

“I like being active, but I also like having the freedom of choosing what I do,” he said.

Indeed, Donegan doesn’t place many limitations on himself.

“I don’t have a very strict routine, which separates me from some other athletes,” he said. “If I want to take a day off, I’m going to take a day off. If I want a Big Mac with bacon, I’m going to eat that Big Mac with bacon. I don’t let running control my life.”

Donegan encourages all people to try running.

“It’s a great way to get in shape, a great way to meet people and also super cheap,” he said. “A lot of people think that if they want to exercise they need to buy an expensive gym membership or a road bike or something. But [with running] you go to the store and buy yourself shoes and shorts and you’re in the sport. Even if you work out at a gym, you have to drive to the gym. Here, you leave right from your front door and go for your run.”

In addition to building physical fitness, Donegan says running provides mental benefits.

“It clears my thoughts,” he said. “It’s so good to get out there and run.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 4th, 2010 at 12:05 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.