Latrobe runner knows it's never too late to get moving

Darlene Upson was 53 years old the first time she ran in a footrace. After crossing the finish line five miles later, she swore she’d never do it again.

“I couldn’t walk for three days,” the Latrobe resident said. “I said to myself, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me — that was awful.’ ”

It was at that race that she saw an ad for a new running club, which piqued her interest after an eventual change of heart.

“Once I quit hurting, I thought, ‘That was kind of fun; I want to see what this is all about,’ ” she said.

That was more than a decade ago.

Since then, she’s run several ultramarathons, was part of a six-person, 200-mile relay and has run in races all over the country.

She’s now in charge of a running club she joined years ago: The Latrobe Area Pacers Society, better known as LAPS.

“We’ve had so many members come and go, but Darlene has been around every time,” said founding member Sabine Kaelin of Latrobe. “She is the heart of LAPS.”

Upson says the club has an informal, welcoming, supportive atmosphere. There are other groups in the area for hardcore runners, those who want to be competitive or push themselves to ever-faster times.

For those who just want to enjoy running, there’s LAPS.

“We’re more of a social group,” she said. “We run, but we like to eat, also.”

That’s not to say she doesn’t take running seriously. She runs at least five miles most days, and at least 10 on Saturdays.

“I run every day,” she said. “That’s my peace.”

“She is just the most person active I know,” Kaelin said. “She cannot sit still.”

Members say LAPS encourages them to get active and have fun doing it.

“It really gives me a better outlook on my self-esteem, it has increased my running,” said Peggy Gamble of Blairsville, who joined LAPS about two years ago. “We have a lot of fun together, we laugh a lot, we tell stories, we just carry on.”

LAPS members know running is never easy, but doing it with others makes it easier, Upson said.

“We’re at the start of a race, and we look at each other and say, ‘Why do we do this? We hate this,’ ” she said. “You all share in the same misery.”

At the end of a race, the feeling of satisfaction makes the moments of misery worth it, she said.

She and members of the club have traveled to Florida, Myrtle Beach and New York City for races. On Christmas Eve, they go for a run and then head back to Upson’s house for breakfast.

LAPS is open to members of all ages, Upson said. In the club’s early days its youngest member was 5 years old — he now runs track for his high school, she said. Her husband, Paul Upson, started running at age 70 because he wanted to get in on the fun his wife was having.

Upson, 65, is retired. She used to be a phlebotomist at Westmoreland Hospital.

She said she wants to be an example for others, showing that it’s never too late to get active.

“You kind of have to get out of your comfort zone, push yourself,” she said.

She doesn’t plan to stop pushing herself anytime soon. Last year, she and two other LAPS members participated in a triathlon relay. This year, all three plan to tackle the entire triathlon themselves.

“Here we are at this age, trying this. … There are too many excuses people have,” she said.

She wants to run a half-marathon on her 80th birthday.

Information about LAPS is available at facebook.com/groups/runlaps. The group is private to prevent advertising spam, but Upson is quick to accept new members, she said.