Enjoying the view from the podium
Heavy snowfall, fierce winds and a power outage weren’t enough to keep one Pequea woman indoors Sunday.
While most folks were trying to stay warm and dry, Bonnie L. Stoeckl made the decision to go to Evansburg for a 10-mile trail run in which she won her age group.
Capturing first place in the 50-59 group isn’t anything new for this runner, but Sunday’s conditions did present more than one obstacle.
“It was exhausting!” said Stoeckl, who described the trail as being covered with 3 inches of crusty snow, standing water and more horse manure than she would have liked to deal with.
“I literally taped my shoes onto my feet so the mud wouldn’t suck them off,” she said.
Stoeckl said she once lost a couple of minutes in a race because she had to retrieve a shoe.
“In my opinion, 10 miles is a long way to run in sloppy mud,” she said. “It pegged the pain meter. all I could do was try to hang in there.”
Hanging tough is the story of Stoeckl’s life. Drug and alcohol abuse, liver disease, a breast cancer scare and a hepatitis C diagnosis all are part of this athlete’s past.
”I think God led me to athletics to turn my life around,” Stoeckl said.
She started out mountain biking for fun. for her, bicycling was a natural extension from motorcycling — something she grew up doing.
“I was still smoking cigarettes (at that point). I learned I couldn’t get out of Pequea on my bike without stopping on the hills,” she said.
So Stoeckl quit smoking, and eventually added running to her outdoor activities. she entered some road-racing duathlons, in which participants run, bicycle and run a course.
Stoeckl credits her husband, Paul, for inspiring her to do triathlons. He was swimming, running and biking in competitions and she joined him.
“The first couple of years, I was the last person out of the water. I’m a small less bad now. I’m pretty strong in the rest of it,” she said.
In 2001, Stoeckl won the Cyclo-cross National Championship. The events are a mix of on- and off-road courses.
“That was one of the proudest moments,” she said. “Cyclo-cross is the toughest I’ve ever had to work. you use parts of your lungs that you never even thought about.”
In may 2002, Stoeckl was champion in her age group at the Road Runner Club of America’s national event.
In 2004, she placed first in the women’s 45-49 age group in the USA Triathlon Mid-Atlantic Region Series. she won the whole series the following year.
“I beat all of the old farts and the young punks,” Stoeckl joked.
In 2009, she placed first in her age group and seventh overall in a national triathlon 10K competition in Laurel, N.C.
Recently, Stoeckl won gold in the women’s 50-59 age group at a triathlon in Cape Henlopen, Del. she placed third overall among female competitors in the event, which consisted of a quarter-mile ocean swim, a 13.5-mile bike ride and a 3.1-mile run.
Stoeckl said it takes a lot of training to stay on top.
“I get up at 3:30 (a.m.) to work out. It’s 4:30 when I’m sleeping in,” said Stoeckl, who swims two or three days a week, lifts weights, runs and bikes regularly.
“It’s really kind of magical at that time of morning,” she said.
Stoeckl’s goal is to win another national event.
“Meanwhile, I’m about having fun, staying fit and healthy. I’ll take the results as they come,” she said. “I was really into competing for a lot of years. Part of me envies people who just go out and do it really for fun.”
But Stoeckl admits she does prefer to “make the podium” when the champs are announced.
“The view from the top is just a small bit better, I think,” she said. “Sometimes though, I do feel like I miss out on a lot of life.”
Passing up social events and tasty desserts to keep fit does take its toll. It’s early to bed for someone who keeps the training hours Stoeckl does.
Looking back on her athletic career, she said she thinks God blessed her with passion to achieve, which helps keep her sober.
Stoeckl said her passion also has given her a wardrobe full of event T-shirts and hats that could stock a small department store.
“I must say, I do have some really cool rags to clean my bike with,” she said.
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