On April 18, 2004, a couple of Front Runners who thought they had scored for the team in the Niketown "Run for the Parks" 4-mile points race were stunned to discover an interloper—a virtual unknown—had bested them.  "I think I saw him at the last fun run," said one.  "Was it the ex-smoker with arthritis who beat me?" wondered another.  Yes dear , it was.  Steven Vizena had officially parachuted back onto the racing scene, and he had hit the ground running – fast.  Over the three-and-a-half years since that fateful spring day, Vizena has become an invaluable member of Front Runners, adding joie de vivre, razor-sharp intensity and quite a bit of zip to the club, both on and off the racecourse.

As with so many runners, Vizena [pronounced "Viz-na," despite the Front Runner penchant to add syllables, most elaborately manifesting itself in "Vin-cen-za"] has had an on-again off-again romance with the sport, returning to it always like a battered lover to an abusive spouse.  In fact, before rejoining Front Runners in 2004, Vizena had taken a near 20-year sabbatical from the sport due to chronic joint injury brought on by running.  With the advent of anti-inflammatory drugs like Celebrex, Vizena had the chance to experience the sport anew and underwent a racing renaissance that has brought him several top age-place finishes and made him a regular scorer for the FRNY open, masters and veterans teams.  More than anything, Vizena's approach to running echoes his philosophy on life and of art, his love of self-exploration and his desire to push boundaries and test limits.

The fourth son in a family of six, Vizena turned to running at a very early age as a way of distinguishing himself from his older brothers who were more athletically inclined in team sports involving balls.  Self taught from the beginning, Vizena coaxed a friend to run around the playground with him every day at recess.  "Genetics and discipline paid off," says Vizena.  At the high school level, Vizena's myriad achievements included lettering a total of nine times in varsity cross-country, swimming and track and qualifying for Michigan's statewide meet his sophomore year by breaking the ten-minute mark in the two-miler.  (That's sub-5:00 pace for any mathematically-challenged readers.)

Once in college at Michigan State University, Vizena channeled much of his focus, energy and discipline into the creative arts.  "Like running, the making of art involves a process," he says, "with anticipation and expectations, a beginning, middle and end in the production of a piece."  In addition to discovering creative outlets in painting and the visual arts, Vizena engaged in self-exploration, pursuing various relationships with both men and women while in college.  He did not, however, jettison athletics and kept in shape by rowing with the crew team and taking up intramural running.

With a hankering to be at the epicenter of a happening art scene, Vizena moved to the New York area in the early 80s.  Ever resourceful and self reliant, he restored an abandoned house in Jersey City into both a residence and an artist's studio.  In those years, Vizena immersed himself in the carnival life of the West Village, where he worked nights at the restaurant  "Christopher's" (where "The Hangar" bar now resides) and became a denizen of the dance floor in the wee hours after.  Vizena urges that this all served a higher purpose.  "Late night dancing after work kept my legs and ass in shape," he explains, "not that I've ever had much use for a chair—other than as a still life."

True to his belief that both life and art are what you make them, Vizena embraced the artistic opportunities in his everyday life by using costume as a vehicle for performance art.  Dressed as candy, with edible sweets coating his entire body and red shoestring licorice substituting for hair, Vizena once approached a group of hookers on his way to a club and invited them to "trick or treat."  Immediately dropping their streetwalking countenance, they gigglingly plucked smarties and jawbreakers from his body.  "My intent as an artist," explains Vizena, "is to excite, entertain and challenge the viewer's visual capacity and heighten their visual awareness."

Although his life was very full, Vizena still made time for running in the mid-80s and had a very emotional debut at the FRNY Pride Run.  Vizena's parents, whom he was not yet out to, ended up visiting the weekend of the race, and his father, who had never had the opportunity to see his son race before, expressed a desire to watch the five-miler.  Vizena demurred, saying it would make him nervous.  "I came in second in that first Pride Run of mine and I wept tears of joy and disappointment at my father's exclusion as I crossed the finish line," admits Vizena.  "I vowed never again to limit my relationships with my family or others out of fear of their disapproval."   

The Pride Run precipitated Vizena's coming out to his family and joining the club the following year.  Shortly thereafter severe joint pain in his hips required Vizena to push running aside and redirect his energies into other life pursuits, most notably the new romantic relationship he had begun.  That turned out to be a smart investment, as Vizena has been with his partner Paul for 21 years and counting.  

Of course, the siren song of running began to coo its dulcet tones into Vizena's ear back in 2004.  And with a little help from Celebrex, Vizena was soon elbowing his way to the starting line of many a NYRR race.  The results flew in immediately.  In the 22 races he has run since reconnecting with FRNY, Vizena has scored above 70% for age-graded performance all 22 times.  Of the 13 races he has run since turning 50 in 2006, Vizena has scored above the 80 th percentile – the standard for a "national class" athlete – 11 times, hitting 85% at this year's "Run as One TGL Classic" 4-miler, where he finished first for Front Runners in a time of 22:50.

But the adrenaline rush of racing at peak performance exacts a high price—to maintain the top level requires more frequent racing and, with that, an increased risk of injury.  It's a tightrope walk Vizena knows all too well.  "I've enjoyed contributing to the team's standings through recent efforts," he says, "but also realize I must cut back to safeguard my mobility."  For someone like Vizena who mines the depths of his abilities in all aspects of life, reining it in and finding balance may be a greater challenge than winning age-group awards.  But the result—having running part of his life for the long haul—just may be a greater reward.

 

Random Data

Ethnicity: English and French Canadian

Favorite Painters: Mark Rothko and Vincent Van Gogh

If He Couldn't Run: Rowing or Biking – Hard!

Guilty Pleasure: "I have no guilt when it comes to any pleasure!"

Dream Vacation: "My aspirations to travel are not about the destination but the shared experience and time with Paul."