Kent Ultramarathoner Finishes 5th at International Race in Netherlands

The upcoming 26.2-mile Akron Marathon should be a breeze for Kentite Shanna Ailes Istnick, who took fifth place amongst women in a recent 31-mile world championship race in the Netherlands.

Istnick was among 40 elite ultramarathoners from around the world invited by the International Association of Ultrarunners to participate in the 50 of Assen World Trophy race.

The petite runner completed the Aug. 20 race with a time of 3:33:58, just 16 minutes behind the top female finisher from Great Britain.

Istnick, 33, qualified for the Assen race last March by finishing second at the Caumsett State Park 50K in New York with a time of 3:36:22. As one of the top 20 runners invited to Assen, the IAU funded her room and board and most of her flight costs.

Accompanying Istnick on the six-day trip to the Netherlands were her husband of eight years, Brad Istnick, and her parents, Pat and Peggy Ailes of Kent.

It was the presence of her family that kept Istnick running through pain that kicked in after her fourth mile. The course was a 5k loop repeated 10 times. About half the loop’s surface was blacktop, there was a mile of cobblestone and the rest was dirt and sand.

“My feet hurt so bad from the combination of cobblestones and the course being so flat. I’m used to running on hills, so when there’s no elevation change you have problems with repetitive muscle use,” she said. “Even the top guys from Kenya had bad races and everybody’s complaint was the same: the course was too flat.”

As she was running, Istnick considered giving up.

“I wanted to quit but kept thinking how my parents and husband flew there with me to cheer me on, so I just worked through the pain. I would have beat myself up if I had quit that race,” she laughed.

Istnick, who ran her first marathon in January 2008, said her thought process in the Netherlands wasn’t much different than her usual race mindset.

“Many times when I run a race I question why I’m running. Why am I doing this to myself? Why am I putting myself in pain? But I love how I feel afterwards – it’s such a sense of accomplishment,” she said.

Istnick wasn’t interested in running during her youth. She spent 10 years as a gymnast, then lettered in swimming all four years at , graduating in 1997.

She earned a degree in surgical assisting from the University of Akron in 2001, and works as surgical assistant at Dr. John Neary’s offices in Kent and Hudson.

In 2006, her husband invited her to be part of his company’s Akron Marathon relay team. Istick, a casual runner at the time, didn't even prepare for the event.

“I was so overwhelmed by the crowd support when running it that I decided I wanted to run one marathon, just to cross it off my bucket list. And the rest is history,” Istnick said.

Since then, she’s completed eight or nine marathons. Istnick trains year-round, going through about 10 pairs of running shoes annually as she puts in 90 to 110 miles each week.

The Assen race was her fourth ultramarathon, which is her preferred race. “Because (50k races) are a longer distance, you run a little bit slower than in a marathon. I’m better at the longer distances because I have the endurance to keep going,” Istnick said.

One of her favorite aspects of the Assen trip was meeting runners from different countries – an experience she’ll have again in October 2012. “As one of the top finishers in Assen, I automatically get to go to Italy for another 50k World Trophy event at the IAU’s expense,” Istnick said.