New Bedford High School Teacher Runs His Fastest Half Marathon in Washington
TEACHER
New Bedford Standard Times
Matthew Huisman
Boston University Washington News Service
April 21, 2008
WASHINGTON – As a cold wind blew, thousands of runners crowded into race corrals in front of Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium for the start of the third annual National Marathon and Half Marathon. With the sun peeking over the horizon and the temperature in the low 40s, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty announced the start of the race, sending a horde of runners into the streets.
Crowded among the runners on the last Saturday in March was Adam Chale, a special-education teacher at New Bedford High School. Mr. Chale, who has competed in almost 50 road races, finished his fastest half marathon – 13.1 miles – with a time of one hour, 58 minutes and 48 seconds.
As Mr. Chale waited at the start, he said, he was cold, nervous and excited. “I hadn’t run a half marathon since Miami in January, so I wasn’t certain that I’d do all that well,” Mr. Chale said. “I just wanted to be competitive with myself.”
After the start, Mr. Chale said, he felt fine as the pack of runners started to move. The course led runners through all four quadrants of the city and finished near the start line. When Mr. Chale crossed the finish line, he said, he looked up and saw the clock read lower than his personal goal of two hours.
“I felt this great sense of accomplishment like I had just won the Olympics and was ready to take my victory lap with the American flag,” Mr. Chale said. “OK, maybe not the Olympics, but there was some clandestine fist pumping going on.”
Mr. Chale, 42, grew up in Wheatley Heights, N.Y., and started running at a young age with his sister, Amanda, and their father, Allen. Amanda Chale told the story of when their father took the two of them to a track and told them they needed to run four laps before he would enter them in a race.
“Like anything else you expose your kids to, it puts it out there and shows somebody what they might want to try,” Ms. Chale said in a telephone interview.
In high school, Mr. Chale ran the 400 meter and 800 meter in track and the 5 kilometer race in cross-country and was a member of the fencing team. he competed in the 1981 New York State cross-country championships along with his team.
“I took a hiatus from running after high school, about 20 years,” Mr. Chale said in a telephone interview. The decision to pick up running again happened after he gained weight, Mr. Chale said. After experiencing chest pains he decided it was time to change his lifestyle. He started off walking at first, and then decided to run, slowly increasing his mileage.
“It’s been a transformation of his body and mind,” said Lisa Stoeckle, a fellow teacher at New Bedford High School. “When I met Adam he was not in the physical shape that he’s in today.”
Now Mr. Chale said that he runs for his health and enjoyment, adding that he usually runs by himself and without music.
“I like to have a sense of what I’m doing and I like to keep my head clear,” Mr. Chale said.
“I think that the running helps him to get his life prioritized,” his sister said. “It’s a good way for him to think and work through things.”
For the past five years, Mr. Chale has been a special-education teacher at New Bedford High School, primarily helping students with difficulty reading or with learning disabilities. He said he enjoys teaching because of the satisfaction he experiences when a student finally realizes a solution to a problem.
“You always enjoy it when a child gets it,” Mr. Chale said. “There is a light in their eyes when they get it.”
Mr. Chale said that he was inspired to be a special-education teacher in part because he was diagnosed with a learning disability as a junior in high school. Mr. Chale said that he understands the frustration his students feel.
“I had a high IQ, but my grades were poor,” Mr. Chale said.
After graduating high school, he attended the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University as an undergraduate and graduate student earning his Master’s and going on to teach in New York City and upstate New York before coming to New Bedford.
His colleagues describe Mr. Chale as a dedicated teacher and a role model for students and faculty alike. Ms. Stoeckle said she has known Mr. Chale “since the day he walked into the high school.” She describes him as a shy and reserved person who cares about his students.
“He relates to their disabilities,” Ms. Stoeckle said. “He feels their frustration when they are caught in a difficult learning situation.”
Michael Winderlick, who teaches biology at New Bedford High School, said that Mr. Chale’s athleticism is inspirational to students and faculty. Mr. Winderlick said that Mr. Chale and he participate in after-school sports with other faculty and that Mr. Chale helps out with running programs and with the track team.
Mr. Chale said his next half marathon will be May 4 in either Providence, R.I., or on Long Island, N.Y. He is also planning to run in the New York City Marathon on Nov. 2, 2008, provided he is chosen from the lottery of runners. Mr. Chale expects to find out if he makes the cut some time in June.
Mr. Chale is engaged to be married in September to Francie Behar, a physical therapist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The couple met at a softball league in Boston, Ms. Behar said in an interview. Ms. Behar and Mr. Chale have no plans to give up their current work positions.
“I hope that his kids are aware of all of his accomplishments and can do better by his example,” his sister said.
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