Take...The First Step:

About Lynn Gray, Group Founder & Coach

Lynn Gray, an experienced marathoner and RRCA certified coach has been an age group winner for over 20 years, is your coach. My experience includes over 35 years of long-distance running and over 80 marathons. I specialize in the long-term goals of marathon and half marathon distances, and develop fitness programs to support the intermediate distances as well. I also coach and give workouts for walkers who aspire to become a jogger or speedwalker and provide the skills which will give the aerobic ability to participate in fitness goals such as 5K, 10K, 1/2 marathon and marathon distances.

"Walk to Run" Programs For Permanent Fitness

Take ...The First Step offers walk to run programs which supports the female and male participant who want a permanent plan of aerobic exercise which fits their lifestyle. We have aerobic programs which support walking, jogging, speedwalking, distance running, and integrative running programs for the triathlete.

In The News

Link To Article in St Pete Times

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/11/09/Northoftampa/Devoted_to_run.shtml

Link To Croom Trail Run Video. Example Of A Weekend Run.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6662022513775118400

Link To The Start of Spring Into Summer Race June 9 2007

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3835928558292247374&pr=goog-sl

Link To Relays At Ben Hill May 22, 2007

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9102726893478313866

Gray Has Women Runners Take The First Step

Lynn Gray is doing a wonderful thing for women, though she would say women are doing it for themselves. By teaching them how to run, she has set them free. She has empowered them to set goals and succeed by helping them develop physical skills and mental toughness. Gray trains women in the enduring sport of marathon. She began running 35 years ago while attending Florida State. While the football player she was dating would practice, Gray and a friend would run the track. Soon, as her endurance increased, she would run distances and was the only female in the pack of male runners. When she transferred to USF, she found the environment more hostile. ``I would get shooed off the track,'' she said. ``Or I'd be told, `Please move to the outside.' There were no other women running.'' This made Gray more determined and pushed her to run harder and farther. Then again, she is no stranger to challenges. She has made more than 1,000 parachute jumps and took up karate when it was dominated by men. A few years ago, several women asked her to start a training group. Before long, the women's numbers grew to 25 and they began to set goals, such as running marathons. The majority are professional women, including Maria Vasquez, who has run with the group for 1 1/2 years. ``It's a stress reliever,'' said Vasquez, who has run Gasparilla races and recently applied for her first New York City Marathon. ``When I get out there, everything else is out of my mind. I'd rather be outside than on a treadmill. Running sets me free.'' Gray describes herself as an average runner who is training women. Yet, she finished in the top 25 of Saturday's Draft Day 5k race in Tampa. Her method appears nonthreatening. Beginners, she said, should start with a walk-run - two minutes of jogging and one minute of walking for about 20 minutes to one hour. Gradually they increase the intervals and the jogging portion becomes longer. Eventually, they reach what she calls the first benchmark, a 20-minute jog. Her group, Take ... The First Step, meets every Tuesday at Ben Hill Middle School on Erlich Road in northwest Hillsborough County. But training is a five-day program, she said. Every weekend, the group plans runs of six to 24 miles in communities around Hillsborough County. Sometimes they go to hilly areas, such as San Antonio near Dade City. The experience helps the women gain strength, she said. The idea of women helping women is relatively new, but it is growing in most lifestyle areas. For information about Gray's group, call (813) 961-9347.