A COMPETITIVE EDGE
Runner Rooney can't kick the urge to stay in the fray

Tammy Rooney

Tammy Rooney thrives on competition.

Rooney is the Bullard High School head cross country coach, assistant basketball coach and assistant tennis coach.

But that is not enough for the energetic Rooney.

She's run in the Boston Marathon and even won the Tyler St. Gregory five-kilometer race.

But after running in 36 full marathons, recently she has turned to races, which combine running with either swimming and/or biking.

After a full day of coaching she sheds her whistle and goes from being the coach to the competitor.

She takes part in races ranging from 1/2 marathons to mini triathlons and anything that challenges her.

Rooney was competitive in triathlons and other races early. The first one she competed in was at the Lake O' The Pines.

"I finished second in my age group in my first triathlon, so I was hooked," Rooney said with a laugh.

Her best overall finish is at the Jefferson Triathlon where she got second overall master female in the 40 and over class.

She will be taking part in the 1/2 marathon on Dec. 10 at White Rock Lake.

"I've been in running events forever so this is the part of the triathlon which is my favorite," Rooney admitted. "The swimming I love to do, but it is my weakest event. I start out freestyle swimming, then I go to the breast stroke. Some people do anything just to finish the swimming part, I see people dog paddling and even the back stroke."

To get ready for the challenging contests of skills and determination, the coach trains riding on Highway 69 biking to Jacksonville and sometimes to Tyler.

Some of the races she enters, called triathlons combine running, biking and swimming. She trains for the swimming events at the Olympic Center pool or at Tyler State Park lake.

In a recent Iron State triathlon in Montgomery, the Lake Conroe area the water temperature was 68 degrees on race day.

"That is pretty cold, so we were allowed to wear a wet suit," Rooney said. "The day began with temperatures in the 50s with the temperature near 80 degrees when the race was over."

Rooney said. "The race in Conroe consisted of a 1.2 mile swim in Lake Conroe that she finished in 49:48 and rode a bike for 59 miles averaging 17 mph for a time of 3:27.32. Then I finished with a 13.1 mile run while took me 2:15.05. The time for the entire race was 6:36:32."

Out of the field of 800 total participants, she was 408th and finished 14th from 28 in her age group.

Rooney does five to seven triathlons a year. She also does dualthlons which consist of biking and running with no swimming involved. She has done 10-15 triathlon type races in the Dallas area.

"I do the races for the challenge," Rooney said. "I now and just trying to beat my last year's time, so I challenge myself."

Rooney said, "I could go out now and run a four hour marathon and I should be happy with that. But since I started doing the other races the triathlons and dualthons I like that challenge better. Marathons take months to train for and they take about a month to recover from physically."

The training for races is a full time, 12-month a year event for Rooney. But she always has a smile on her face when talking about the long, grueling races.

"I think competing does make me a better coach," Rooney said. "I know what it takes to be an athlete and to push yourself. Sometimes I am thinking about my cross country kids while I running a race."

Rooney said, "I am lucky God has given me the ability to do these things.

"I am very fortunate to live in a community like Bullard where I get support for this hobby. I have a terrific job and I am glad to get work with young people every day."

In the dozens of races she has won countless ribbons, trophies and awards. But her most prized possession is a poster the young students made for her for competing a race.

"I still have that poster up in my house," Rooney said with a twinkle in her eye. "That is the big payoff, when the kids support what you are doing."