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July 7, 2006
Section: REPORTER
Page: 18I
Belief in God keeps Highlands woman on the run
TERRY GAUTHIER MUESSIG/STAFF WRITER
Asbury Park Press
Jessica Alinsub can run, bike and swim a mile a minute. |
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The power of her faith gave Alinsub, 35, of Highlands the will to live and the stamina to participate and cross the finish line at the Iron Man competition held May 31 in Orlando, Fla. She completed the 70.3-mile triathlon in 7 hours, 9 minutes and 49 seconds. In her age bracket, she finished 87th out of more than 3,000 participants, she said.
"Three years ago, I thought I was dying," said Alinsub, a Philippine Missionary of Charity sister at the New Life Christian Church in Highlands. "The doctors did not know what was wrong with me."
Her symptoms included chest pains, shortness of breath and weight loss.
"I was in the hospital for weeks," she said.
However, the power of prayer and with the help of the pastor of the New Life Church, the Rev. Martin McGrail, she left the hospital to go home. Her options — live or die.
Alinsub recuperated.
"I was tired of being sick," she said.
She began exercising — walking, then running.
"Chief Blewett (Highlands Police Chief Joseph Blewett) came up to me and told me he saw Sister Jessica running across the Highlands Bridge," McGrail said.
However, he assumed she was home recuperating.
About a month after she returned home, she began running from Highlands to Sea Bright and then back home. She also joined the Jersey Shore Running Club and the Sandy Hookers Triathlon Club. Her jaunts to the adjacent town soon became her own mini-marathons from Highlands to Asbury Park and back, McGrail said.
As time passed, and she became physically fit, she decided to turn her running into a cause to help others.
Last year, she decided to participate in the Iron Man competition to benefit the Feed the Children cause.
In training, she swims at the Community YMCA in Red Bank and rides her bicycle 50 to 60 miles every other day, she said.
"I swam when I was a young girl, in the Philippines," she said.
As for bicycling and running, they are both new ventures for Alinsub.
"There were times I did not think I could finish the competition," she said.
The event was held at Disney World. The first leg of the competition was a 1.2-mile swim in one of the man-made lakes at Fort Wilderness at the theme park.
"At first I struggled," she said.
For the first half-mile, she said people were swimming over her.
"I didn't think I could make it," she said.
However, her faith took over, and she was able to complete the swim in 57 minutes. Once she "felt peace" she was able to glide through the water, taking her time, she said.
The second phase of the competition was the 56-mile bicycle ride. The course was throughout the Disney compound, including hills and flat terrain, she said.
"I wanted to drop out 100 times," she said.
However, once again, she said she turned to her faith and prayer to complete the ride, which took more than three hours.
The final phase was the 13.1-mile run.
"She is a finisher," McGrail said.
The next Iron Man competition will be on Aug. 5 in Michigan, Alinsub said, for which she is in training.
"Sister Jessica sets the example for others to never give up, and to have faith in God," McGrail said. "The odds were against her."
Terry Gauthier Muessig: (732) 291-2643 or terrygm@app.com
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Copyright (c) Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.
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