Feet first in running

It was a beautiful day in Tampa as runners competed in the Gasparilla Distance Classic. With only several more miles to run, Dr. Carl Olliverre was hurting. He huffed and puffed with every step. His legs felt like they were going to collapse. Thoughts of quitting raced through his mind.

Then he looked at the clock and realized quitting was not an option. He was on pace to achieve a longtime dream. The dream? Qualifying to compete in the Boston Marathon after age fifty.

To achieve that, he would need to finish the marathon in under three hours and thirty-five minutes. Knowing it was well within reach, Dr. Olliverre mustered all the strength he had and pushed forward. By the time he crossed the finish line, there was little gas left in the tank. His body was depleted, but his heart felt a sense of joy as he looked at the clock, which read three hours and thirty-four minutes.

A dream was fulfilled on that sunny day in Tampa.

Of course, running has always been a passion for Dr. Olliverre, a native of Puerto Rico. He was raised in an athletic family and found that running was the sport in which he excelled. He was so good in high school that he landed an athletic scholarship to the University of Puerto Rico, where he became the school’s star half-mile sprinter.

After moving to Florida in 1992 to practice orthopedics and sports medicine, he continued running but decided to change gears. One of his coworkers, Rissie Thieler, was a regional champion marathon runner. She introduced Dr. Olliverre to long-distance running, and the two practiced in the heart of the Clermont hills.

“I could barely finish a two- or threemile run,” says Dr. Olliverre, who practices at Florida Musculoskeletal Institute. “She would practically have to carry me.”

However, with continuous training, he vastly improved in long-distance running. Before long, it became a passion. “Endurance running is challenging yet rewarding because the more you do it the longer you can run and the faster you become. I became hooked.”

At age 34, he put his training to the test by competing in his first marathon at Walt Disney World. He finished the 26.2-mile run with an impressive time of three hours and fifteen minutes. “I was so pumped after that race,” he recalls. “I haven’t stopped running after that.”

After competing in numerous races throughout the years, he reached the pinnacle of his sport in April 2011 when he ran the prestigious Boston Marathon. He ran against 39,000 competitors and finished in three hours and fifty-seven minutes. The experience was surreal.

“The course was spectacular, and one of my favorite moments was seeing my wife and children in the crowd and stopping to high-five them,” he says. “I was proud to compete in this event because it separates casual runners from those who take running to the next level.”

Much to his surprise, he found that competing in the New York Marathon in November 2011 was even grander. As he and 47,000 other competitors ran the course, they were greeted and cheered on by bands, musicians, cheerleaders, and thousands of spectators.

“I’ve been to the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and the World Series, and in my opinion the New York Marathon was every bit as impressive,” he says. “That experience was exhilarating, and finishing in Central Park was a great way to end a marvelous event.”

These days, Dr. Olliverre runs four to five times a week and averages nine miles on each run.

“When you are running, you leave all stress behind and do not have a care in the world,” he says. “For me, running will always be a passion.”