Chris Stoia wasn't looking for Front Runners, but Front Runners found him. While calling it divine intervention or the auspices of serendipity may be a tad overblown, the circumstances do qualify, at the very least, as uncanny. After a more than 15-year hiatus from racing, Stoia decided to give the NYC marathon another go in 2006, and the call of 800-meter repeats brought him to the Riverbank Track on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (Those involved with speed training may see where this is headed…) During his initial courtship with the club, Stoia would linger on the bleachers after his workout to size up and time the clearly gay runners, while Front Runners would collectively puzzle: “Who is that gay guy watching us? Should we ask if he wants to join our workouts?”
Given how integrated Stoia – a 2007 nominee for FR of the Year, recent race captain addition and near weekly provider of fresh baked goods on Saturday mornings – has become into the fiber of the club, it is difficult to imagine that a mere 18 months ago he could not muster the nerve to approach FRNY. But as Front Runners through the decades have learned, once you're home, it doesn't really matter how you got there. This club allows you to check your past at the door to Rutgers. No questions asked. For Stoia, the past involved a wonderful family, an active social life and great running glories, but, as is often the case for gay runners, many elements of his self worth and inner peace were inextricably knotted together with athletic performance and acceptance of his sexuality. During his 15-year break from competition, Stoia still relied on running as a “leveler,” but in many ways he kept the sport at a safe distance. Over the last year and a half, he has reawakened his inner athlete and found a way back home.
A scrappy Long Island teenager with quick feet but no hope of ever bending it like Beckham, Stoia was gently nudged from the high school soccer team to the track team. Impossibly determined, Stoia self-trained the entire summer after his debut spring track season. His father, who worked for an electronics company, built a large digital clock to time his son's nightly laps around the block. “I did get better, faster and stronger,” says Stoia, “just like the 6 Million Dollar Man.” The training worked so well, in fact, that junior year he earned the name “blood and guts Stoia,” and in his senior year, he was crowned MVP for cross country and both indoor and outdoor track. “It had only happened once before (that an athlete won for all three seasons),” says Stoia, “and when I got those awards and my parents were there and the crowd cheered, I could have died and gone to heaven.”
With trademark gumption, Stoia went on to run all three seasons at Cornell University his freshman year. But he soon discovered that he wasn't in Deer Park, LI anymore. “I loved it but was way out of my league and totally overtraining,” he admits. “Guys were doing 100-plus mile weeks all the time and I couldn't get over 85.” Although he blistered through the 1500 (just shy of a mile) in an astonishing 4:10 and sped through the 800 in 2:03, he wasn't cutting it on the team and decided to pursue other pastimes.
Through a hometown friend, Stoia had explored African dance soon after starting at Cornell and used the extra time he had after quitting the team to delve further into various dance programs. “I wasn't very good at first,” he says, “but like everything else I did, I threw everything into it.” Participation in the student dance group yielded more than a tight butt and late night fodder. To fulfill a volunteer requirement of the club, Stoia lent a hand with costume design and production. But first he had to learn to sew. His home ecology professor was so impressed with his workmanship that she suggested he switch his major from botany to design. “The light bulb went off,” says Stoia, “so what if I had no design or art background at all. Landscaping and plants are all just shape and color!” (The choice stuck; Stoia now runs production design for bohemian fashion phenom Nanette Lepore.)
After college, Stoia borough surfed for a while, riding the waves between Queens, Washington Heights and the South Bronx. It was the late 80s and Stoia was a little bit John Travolta and a little bit Richard Simmons. A typical weekend? “Go to a bar on Friday night and dance there, drag myself home to go to aerobics Saturday morning for 2-3 hours and then the club that night until sun up,” he explains. “And then Sunday was the day – 3 to 4 hours of aerobics and feed my face and go home and collapse.” Despite apparent sleep deprivation and a lifestyle not conducive to top performance, Stoia still completed the 1988 NYC marathon in an impressive 3:06. Nearing the 3-hour mark inspired Stoia to “train like an animal” to break that milestone the next year. He crossed the line angry and vexed, with a time of 3:04. “All that training for what! Two f*#!ing minutes, no way! I swore I would never, ever, EVER run the marathon again.”
Chasing goals can be tricky business, and it doesn't take a psychotherapist to know that the numbers on the clock can represent something more than minutes and seconds. “I was having a mental/emotional meltdown,” admits Stoia. “I was doing too many things to get approval from people.” To truly settle the troubled tides within, Stoia needed his parents to at least be able to speak openly about his being gay. While they loved him unconditionally and knew the truth about his sexuality (did you read the part above about his penchant for design and jazzercise?), his family had never even said the word “gay” before. Over time and with work, his familial relationships only grew stronger, but he still refrained from racing because he couldn't decide if he was doing it for approval or for himself.
By 2006, Stoia had decided to tackle the marathon again – this time, on his own terms. Through the dumb luck of coincidence, he ended up doing his speed training in the same place and at almost the same time as Front Runners, and he needed only the teensiest bit of cajoling to join the team. “If the club hadn't invited me,” he says, “I doubt I would have joined or even tested the waters – it's not my way.”
The last 18 months have shown that once in the mix, Stoia is the consummate team player and performer. Since joining FRNY, he has chipped away at his marathon time, hitting 3:03 in 2006 and 3:00 flat (just 28 seconds shy of his goal) in 2007 and is clearly on his way to greater and better performances. His consistent support of FRNY, through stellar racing, relay participation and generous volunteerism led to his nomination for the club's most prestigious honor at this February's Awards Night. Reflecting on that night, Stoia has coquettishly said how good it is to “finally feel part of something.” Welcome home, Chris. —Robert Lennon
Random Data
2008 Racing Goals? – 2:57 NYC Marathon and breaking 6-minute pace for 3-, 4- and 5-milers
Hollywood Hottie? – “This one's easy—Benjamin Bratt…There's always Dave Navarro if Ben is busy.”
Proudest Running Moment? – “4:10 in the 1500 because I don't hear many fellow runners saying they've done it, and I like to think I'm special.”
Chris Stoia wasn't looking for Front Runners, but Front Runners found him. While calling it divine intervention or the auspices of serendipity may be a tad overblown, the circumstances do qualify, at the very least, as uncanny. After a more than 15-year hiatus from racing, Stoia decided to give the NYC marathon another go in 2006, and the call of 800-meter repeats brought him to the Riverbank Track on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (Those involved with speed training may see where this is headed…) During his initial courtship with the club, Stoia would linger on the bleachers after his workout to size up and time the clearly gay runners, while Front Runners would collectively puzzle: “Who is that gay guy watching us? Should we ask if he wants to join our workouts?”