The thrill of achievement keeps Frank Ohl teacher in the running

By Elise Franco

Leskanic’s co-worker Wendy Russo also ran in the 2008 marathon, and three others joined him in a relay at Sunday’s Pittsburgh Marathon.

AUSTINTOWN — When Adam Leskanic began training for last year’s Boston Marathon, he didn’t think he’d actually qualify, but he did — twice.

Leskanic, 36, is an art teacher at Frank Ohl Intermediate School. He’s also a runner.

He participated in his second Boston Marathon on April 20, finishing with a time of three hours, 13 minutes and 41 seconds, which is nearly 15 minutes faster than his time in 2008. He finished in the top 15th percentile for male runners.

“Running the marathon was just always a goal of mine,” said Leskanic, of Grove City, Pa. “You have to qualify to run it, and I did it just to see if I would qualify.”

Leskanic said he was able to improve his time by relaxing and knowing what to expect.

“I just had fun with it,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect the first time, so the second time I was much more prepared.”

An intense training regimen began for Leskanic four months before the actual race. He said running an average of eight miles per day wasn’t beyond normal.

“I pretty much ran every single day,” he said. “Then I did a long run on Sundays that eventually builds up until I was running 20 miles.”

Leskanic said the feeling of knowing he was among an elite group of runners who qualified to run the marathon was a great feeling.

“There’s only a certain percentage who ever run it,” he said. “It’s a lot of runners’ goals to run the Boston Marathon, so it was neat to be around that many people with a common goal.”

In 2008, Leskanic wasn’t the only Frank Ohl teacher to run in the marathon. Wendy Russo, 37, of Canfield finished with a time of three hours, 45 minutes and 46 seconds.

Leskanic, in modest fashion, had nothing but good things to say about his co-worker’s accomplishment.

“She qualified on her first try, and there are people who never do that,” he said. “That’s pretty awesome.”

Russo said it was “awesome” that Leskanic finished the 2009 race in the top 15 percent.

She said the most exciting part was seeing people line the course.

“I think Boston basically shuts down and people just come out and watch you,” she said. “I was never running by myself. It was so fantastic.”

Leskanic said he tried to keep the success of his race quiet, but co-workers found out and made an announcement to the entire school.

“I try to stay under the radar,” he said. “People congratulated me. A couple of students congratulated me too.”

Principal Dennis Rice was virtually speechless when asked what he thought about the accomplishments of his employees.

“I’m ... what can I say? I’m just very proud,” he said.

Leskanic said he’s run eight marathons already, including Akron, Athens and Cleveland. He said his time from this year’s marathon automatically qualifies him to race in 2010.

Sunday, Leskanic and three other Austintown teachers — Frank Pugliese, Bob Lape and Chris Frank — ran a relay at the Pittsburgh Marathon.

efranco@vindy.com