"Way"

The Northeast Foot Locker Championships

Award Ceremony in New York
Photo by DyeStat www.dyestat.com

Results

Who is Melissa Donais?
Bronx, New York, 1999

By Mick Grant

To read the post-Foot Locker reports, one might think that the Foot Locker Northeast Regional was Melissa Donais' first race ever. Like all "overnight sensations," though, this is most definitely not true.

Melissa has been running for many years and has had good times and bad. Like a true champion, Melissa has had the strength of character to work through and learn from the bad times. She has put to use all of her experiences to make herself a better competitor.

Melissa has been working on a progressive development program with the Greater Lowell Road Runners since she was quite young, a program based on gradual, consistent improvement. Her development has been continued at Phillips Academy Andover, where she is the current New England Prep-School cross country champion. Melissa has won New England and Regional Junior Olympics titles and has run in Hershey's North American Finals in Hershey, PA.


Top Finishers at the Foot Locker Regional Championships
Photo by Mark Donais

Thanks to Mick Grant for writing this piece for Way Cool Running. Mick has been Melissa's Greater Lowell Road Runners coach since 1995. Melissa's father, Mark, is the assistant coach. Nancy Lang is Melissa's coach at the Phillips Academy.

Editor's Note: Good luck to Melissa. We hope to hear more from and about you in the future.

Email carol@coolrunning.com with comments on this feature.

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