By Grant Suneson
Floral Park’s Tara Hayes is no stranger to running. At 44, she’s already completed the New York City Marathon.
Hayes, a mother of four, was among more than 19,000 people who ran the United Airlines NYC Half-Marathon on March 19.
While the race was only half the marathon distance, it was a completely different challenge.
At age 2, Hayes underwent open-heart surgery to correct congestive heart failure. After dealing with such a major medical problem at such a young age, she said, her childhood was somewhat abbreviated.
“I had a lot of restrictions when I was little,” Hayes said.
She sometimes missed out on some of the standard running around that most children get to do, she said, but she refused to let it stop her from achieving her goals.
“People shouldn’t let conditions or defects define them; they should try to rise above it,” Hayes said.
Making up for lost time, Hayes went on to become an avid runner. She finished two marathons and started teaching treadmill classes at a local fitness center.
After decades of relatively good health, her heart problems resurfaced. In 2014, Hayes was teaching one of her classes when she felt light-headed and collapsed, she said.
“I just felt my rhythm change,” she said. “I felt like I lost the ability to stand and I just went down.”
Hayes was diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia called ventricular tachycardia. It can cause dizziness, trouble breathing and, potentially, an end to marathon-running careers.
Hayes said she was initially unsure if she would be able to continue her passion. But for runners like her, giving up and going home when things get difficult wasn’t an option, she said.
“I knew that if I didn’t continue running, I knew it would get the better of me,” Hayes said. “… I just had to keep doing it for my mental sanity, really. Because it does expose a lot of anxiety.”
Hayes said concerns about her heart sometimes weighed on her mind heavily while training for the half-marathon.
“I write my husband’s phone number on the back of my hand. That’s how much it gets into your head,” she said.
So, just like a marathon, Hayes had to push herself to keep going. Unfortunately, she said, running a full 26.2-mile race is no longer an option, but she still wants to compete and push herself.
Last year, Hayes had to briefly delay her preparations while she waited for the results of a heart biopsy. Once it came back negative, she knew she was ready to race.
Hayes knows the limitations of her body and the risks they pose, but she didn’t let them stop her before and she’s not going to let them stop her now, she said.
“You just feel that it could happen any time,” Hayes said. “But you just have to block it out of your head and just keep running.”