The last year or so has been a whirlwind for Allison Chamberlain.
When the Scarborough native decided to transfer from the University of Vermont to Keene State (N.H.) College last winter, she had to take a physical.
What the cross country and track and field standout discovered after an electrocardiogram (EKG) exam was a murmur in her heart, and after an ultrasound, a half-inch hole was found in her heart.
“It was really shocking,” Chamberlain said.
She had surgery five days later, and after working her way back onto Keene’s outdoor track team, she had a banner spring season, earning Little East Conference Runner of the Year honors.
It was when the heart problem was discovered that Chamberlain, who has been running since middle school, realized how much the sport meant to her.
“As a runner you always have times when you doubt your abilities and how [long] you’re going to continue running,” she said. “It’s a huge part of my life, I wouldn’t know what to do if I couldn’t continue doing it.”
Chamberlain worked back fairly slowly, as she started walking on a treadmill two weeks after surgery and was back practicing with her teammates a month following the operation.
“She didn’t lose a whole lot of fitness,” said Keene State coach Peter Thomas. “They had to close the hole in her heart, [she] had to take some time off and then start back very gradually as it healed.”
Chamberlain had never had any such problems in running, and while her doctors said she didn’t have to have the surgery right away, it was in her best interest to have the procedure.
“They told me I didn’t have to have it right away, I could keep running, I never had any problems,” Chamberlain said.
Chamberlain, a sophomore who transferred to Keene because Vermont didn’t have her preferred major (architecture), was third at the ECAC Division III championships in the 800 meters in 2 minutes, 14.84 seconds while lowering that personal-best to 2:14.49 at the New England Open Championships. She was also the Little East champion in the 800.
“We also raced her at 1,500 meters, which is something she hadn’t done before,” Thomas said.
Her improvement has been staggering, as Chamberlain ran as fast as 2:19 in the 800 her freshman year at Vermont while knocking five seconds off that plateau as a sophomore.
Even though Chamberlain narrowly missed the NCAA Division III qualifying standard of 2:13.70, she’s not upset.
“I have two more years, I’ll definitely be able to get it. I know I will,” said Chamberlain, who also has her sights set on Keene’s school record of 2:10.65.
Chamberlain feels a lot more comfortable at the Division III level than she did at Division I, especially having more teammates to accompany her on training runs.
“My team at Keene is more distance-oriented, we don’t have a lot of sprinters or short distance runners,” she said. “I have a harder time doing longer distances by myself, when I went to Keene I had 10 people going on runs with me.”
Which is usually more comfortable for a distance runner, as doing long runs solo can be a tad tougher and sometimes boring.
“I hated doing it by myself but this season I’ve had at least three people with me,” Chamberlain said.
Running is contagious in Chamberlain’s family, as younger sister Whitney is capping off a stellar running career at Scarborough, and will compete in this weekend’s New England Championships in Burlington. She will attend the University of Maine in the fall.
