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LAS CRUCES - Dorota Gruca said she did it her way, and if she had to do it again, she'd do the same thing.
A native of Poland who has lived in Las Cruces since 2003, Gruca competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, representing Poland in the marathon. In 2005, she placed 13th in the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, running a career best of 2:27:46.
She finished 2010 with four consecutive victories, setting a new course record at the Phoenix 10K and then winning the Las Vegas Rock'n'Roll Marathon on her 40th birthday. She beat her nearest rival by two miles. It was her second marathon in six weeks.
She holds several national records in Poland, where she won the Polish National Marathon Championship in October. She also set a Mexican national record time in the 2004 Mazatlan Marathon.
She did all this while living and training in Las Cruces. And she also did all this without the kind of support enjoyed by most world-class athletes - coach, doctor, manager.
"I did it by myself, that was my choice," Gruca said. "I was able to make the top. I'm still happy ... I was always stubborn. I always do it my own way."
Born to travel
Gruca was born Dec. 5, 1970, in the Polish village of Tarnogr d. Her speed on the baseball paths was noticed at an early age and by 15 she was invited to join Agros Zamosc, one of Poland's top running clubs.
Located 70 miles from her village, the club has always been like a second family to her, Gruca said, and the stipend they have
Her mother, who raised four children by herself, was very happy when Dorota made the club.
"My mother is very proud of me," she said.
Dorota got her first taste of travel in 1990, after the communist regime in Poland gave way to democracy. She went to France for a race, and she's been running and traveling the world ever since.
"I was born to travel," she said. "That's why I start running."
Both are good for her soul, she said.
She first came to the United States on a tourist visa in 1998, she said. Initially, she would go back and forth between the U.S. and Poland, using Albuquerque as a training base. She also has trained in Switzerland for most of her 25-year running career, she said.
Although she said she loves snow, there is too much of it on the ground too often in Poland for it to be a good year-round base.
In 2003, she came to Las Cruces to train with top-tier Las Cruces marathon runner Filomeno Apodaca, she said. In 2008, the U.S. Embassy in Poland approved a five-year sports-related visa that will allow her to be here year-round.
"I have had no coach since I was 23 years old," she said. "But I seem to meet the right people at the right time. I kept going higher and higher. My dreams come true."
The high point of her career was competing at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, she said.
"There I was, with the greatest athletes in the world, it was amazing, " she said.
Unfortunately, the Polish government did not decide to let her go to the Olympics until six weeks before the event.
"From 2004 to 2008, there was no (one) faster runner in Poland," she said. "But I had no coach, no manager, nobody cared ... I was losing energy fighting it."
Gruca placed 30th in the Olympics and feels she could have done better with three full months to focus on training and without the emotional stress. Only three years before, she had been the 13th fastest woman marathoner at the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki.
"Marathon running is emotionally demanding," she said. "The most important thing is the mental preparation."
Polish food for energy
When she was a national champion in Poland at age 25, she said people were already telling her she was too old. No one could imagine that she'd still be running and winning 10Ks and marathons at age 40, she said.
"But the world has changed," she said. "Now people are running into their 50s. There is no limit. If you really want it, you can do it."
Gruca lived off of both her stipend from Agros Zamosc and the winnings she earned at top-tier races. She hit it really big at the Mazatlan Marathon in 2004, when her winning time of 2:28:49 set a new Mexican national record. For that, she took home $100,000 and also won a new car, a Chevrolet.
"That was a miracle," she said. "I was in shock for two months."
She said she is good with money and has invested her winnings carefully, including buying property in Poland.
She returns to Poland several times a year, not only to run races, see her family and visit with her club, but because she needs Polish food.
"Polish food gives me my energy," she said.
Her mother makes good pierogies, she said.
"I am Polish," she said. "I don't know if that will ever change."
Time to recharge
After 25 years as a professional long-distance runner, Gruca said she is ready to slow down - just for a bit.
"This has been my job," she said. "There has been no time for vacation, no time for a family. After my birthday, my body said enough. Forty years is enough. I need to recharge my batteries."
Fourteen months ago, Lawrence Joy, 48, owner of Advanced Target Marketing in Las Cruces, became her manager. He is also known as the voice of the New Mexico State University Aggie Pride Marching Band and also the Pan Am announcer for NMSU men's basketball. Through Joy's management, Gruca ran more races in 2010 than she had in many years, closing the year on an amazing string of victories.
And, to top it all off, she and Joy were married on New Year's Eve 2010.
At the Las Vegas Marathon on her birthday, he said he had to fly in at the last minute, owing to another commitment, and met her just as she won the race.
"I was there at the finish line for all her races, with 26 roses, 13 red, 13 white," Joy said.
The roses are symbolic of the Polish flag, he said, and there is one for every mile of the race.
But Gruca is not retiring as a marathon runner, she explained. Having turned 40, she has decided to bring her elite marathon career to a close. But she said she plans to both start a family and continue her career as a masters' level marathon runner. A first-place masters' finish in such world-renowned races as the New York and Boston marathons is worth a cash prize of $10,000 to $20,000, she said.
"I need new places, new races, that's what keeps me going," she said. "I will be back. Next year, 2012. Who knows?"
Jeff Barnet can be reached at (575) 541-5476.
Join the club
•Dorota Gruca, 2008 Olympic marathon runner, is interested in forming a running club in Las Cruces and also coaches runners. For coaching or to join Dorota Gruca in a running club, contact her via her website, www.dorotagruca.com
•On the web: www.dorotagruca.
com
•Dorota Gruca biographies also available at www.wikipedia.org and www.iaaf.org.
Gruca file
Career highlights
•2010, Las Vegas Rock'n'Roll Marathon, 1st, 2:44:36
•2010, Phoenix 10K, New Course Record, 1st, 34:57
•2010, Polish National Marathon Championship, 1st, 2:39:19
•2010, Tarnobrzeg (Poland)15K, 1st
•2010, Poland Club Championship, 5K, 1st
•2009, San Antonio Marathon, 3rd, 2:36:07
•2008, Olympic Games, Beijing, Marathon, 30th, 2:33:37
•2007, Poland National Championships, 21K, 1st, 1:13:29
•2005, IAAF World Championship, Helsinki, Marathon, 13th, 2:27:46
•2005, Salt Lake City Marathon, 1st, 2:30:08
•2004, Mazatlan Marathon, Mexico, 1st, 2:28:49 (Mexico National Record Time)
•Three-time National Polish Champion, 5,000 meters
•Poland National Record Holder, 10,000 meters: 31:52.17
Personal record times
•3000 meters: 9:09.35 Lublin, Poland, 2000
•5000 meters: 15:18.75, Eagle Rock, CA, June 27, 2004
•10,000 meters: 31:52.17, Police, Poland, May 8, 2004
•10 kilometers: 32:47, Ottawa, Canada, May 24, 2008
•15 kilometers: 50:50, Pila, Poland, 1999
•30 kilometers: 1:44:41, Osaka, Japan, Jan. 29, 2006
•Half marathon: 1:11:56, Berlin, April 1, 2001
•Marathon: 2:27:46, Helsinki, August 14, 2005
Sources: www.iaaf.org, www.dorotagruca.com
