THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 17, 1995 TAG: 9503160176
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 09 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover story
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
WHEN LESLIE WILLIS was 8, she was interviewed for a newspaper story about her swimming accomplishments. She proclaimed then that she'd be in the Olympics one day.
Today at 31, she's still reaching for that goal, but as a marathoner.
``I'm trying to get there some way,'' Willis, formerly Leslie Fedon, said with a slight smile. ``I've been competing in some type of sport for 25 years.''
Willis' athletic career has had several incarnations.
She was a standout swimmer from age 5, when she won her first blue ribbon, through college.
Then she excelled in triathlons, eventually turning professional. She was ranked as high as ninth in the world.
Now, she's poised to dominate the women's field in marathons.
She already qualified for the Olympic Trials at last year's Shamrock Marathon with a time of 2 hours and 42 minutes, but to actually compete in next year's trials, she must post a qualifying time within 18 months of the competition.
``I feel pretty good,'' said Willis, a physical education teacher and track coach at Landstown Middle School. ``My times are a little off from last year, but I'm training harder.''
The key will be the last six miles, she said.
``I need to race the last six miles instead of survive them,'' Willis said. About 20 miles into the race last year, blisters broke on her feet and she crossed the finish line with her shoes stained with blood.
Willis grew up the youngest of five girls in Pennsylvania. When her four sisters took up swimming, Willis figured ``I didn't have a choice.'' Tired of being wet, she started running while at Penn State University. Then she started competing in triathlons.
Willis came to Hampton Roads to teach. But after three years, she quit to become a professional triathlete, competing in 15 triathlons a year. Then the financial pressures mounted.
``I started to race for the wrong reasons,'' she said. ``I was living a very meager life and it was starting to get to me.''
Three years later, in 1992, she went back to teaching, although she still competed in triathlons.
Last summer, she married a fellow triathlete, Ben Willis, who works in the family business, Willis Wayside.
Once the Olympic Trials are over next year, Willis plans on trading in her running shoes for baby booties.
``I've been at this so long, my biological clock is running out for having a family,'' Willis said. ``Family is becoming more and more important to me.''
If Willis doesn't make it to the Olympic Trials, it will only speed up her family plans.
``At that level, I know I've done everything I could. I've given it my best shot and that's rewarding.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS
Leslie Willis, a physical education teacher at Landstown Middle
School, plans to requalify for the Olympic Trials. ``My times are a
little off from last year, but I'm training harder,'' she said.
by CNB