NEW YORK CITY, New York (WABC) — The New York Road Runners is hosting its 45th annual club night on Thursday, and the recipient of this year’s “Fred Lebow Runner of the Year” award is not only a successful runner, but also a champion in the classroom.
Felicia Pasadyn has already qualified for the Olympic trials and is now on her way to becoming a doctor.
Pasadyn broke broke the tape at several NYRR races last year—a strong season which culminated in finishing as the 14th overall female at the TCS NYC marathon. Her time earned her a spot in the Olympic marathon trials.
“Everyone told me no one makes trials in New York, it’s too hard, it’s too hilly and I started to believe that narrative,” Pasadyn said. “I think I was a little afraid to maybe say the goal out loud and so that is something I learned from the marathon. It’s OK to say outload a dream you think is kind of crazy, because you just might.”
And it’s her second time qualifying for the Olympic trials. The first was in the pool back in 2019, an incoming freshman at Harvard.
She was a competitive swimmer there and graduated in three years from Harvard with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Now, she’s a full-time med school student at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine.
She finds parallels between athletic and academic success.
“I think having those concrete goals and just building on the momentum, success only takes one in a row is what I learned in running and it’s kind of the same in medical school…and really start believing in yourself,” she said.
The motivation came right from her own home. She’s the youngest of four girls and all are doctors.
“So I have three older sisters — Selena, Cassandra, Vanessa — and then I am the baby and we all graduated as valedictorians at Brunswick High School back in Ohio,” Pasadyn said. “They were these beautiful, intelligent girls I looked up to so much I thought, ‘I want to be like that,’ and I don’t think I took it as pressure but as a motivation.”
How is Pasadyn able to be a med student, train and still get nine hours of sleep? She said she’s very particular about her schedule.
“I am intentional with how I am spending every hour of the day and it makes it easier to be committed to something like sleep or making sure you are getting adequate strength training or in making sure you are studying or that next exam,” Pasadyn said. “I keep my life pretty low stress. The more you spend in a parasympathetic or rested state, the better you will perform both academically and athletically so I really try to keep stress low.”
For Pasadyn, it’s all about low stress and high achievements.
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