DaytonDailyNews.com

BEAVERCREEK — Some goals in Pam Nisevich's life — earning her Ph.D. and competing in the Ironman Triathalon in Hawaii to start with — are reachable.

Others, such as getting children to eat right and exercise more, may be very difficult to attain. It will not, however, be from lack of effort.

"I'm a pretty driven person," Nisevich said. "I like overcoming challenges. That sense of accomplishment is one best feelings you can have."

Nisevich, 26, overcame the challenge of running the 112th Boston Marathon on April 21.

The Beavercreek resident was the area's top female finisher, covering the 26.2 mile course in 3 hours, 16 minutes and 22 seconds. It was best time of eight marathons she has completed in the past five years.

Not bad for former year-around soccer player who didn't begin distance running until her college days at Miami University.

"I played soccer in the fall at Carroll High School, indoor in the winter and club in the spring," she said. "I ran track in the spring to stay in shape for soccer. I ran the 400 and 800 meters, never any long distances."

Competitive nature takes over

She continued to play club soccer at Miami, but began to gravitate toward running. "I ran because it was something I could do year round to stay in shape," she said. "I was a recreational runner at first, then the competitive instincts took over. I wanted to do a 5K (5,000 meter run). I did and thought I was going to die.

"But I did it and I wanted to get better at it."

So she began to run the trails around Oxford with friends and competing in area 5,000 and 10,000 meter races.

Eventually she was ready for the challenge of a marathon, which was the Ohio River Road Runners Club event in the spring of 2003 in Xenia.

"I made it in five hours, which was my goal," she said. "That motivated me to push myself harder for a better time."

That time came quickly in the fall of 2003 when she ran the Chicago Marathon "in 3:38 and change. The qualifying time for the Boston Marathon was 3:40, so it was a good feeling for really not having that much experience at distance running."

Getting kids

Along with becoming a competitive distance runner, Nisevich picked up an undergraduate degree from Miami and a master's degree from Ohio State in dietetics. She now is a clinical dietitian at Children's Medical Center. Among her many duties is helping run a program called The Body Shop.

" It's working with overweight and obese children," she said. "Getting them to get away from the video games, to exercise and teaching them and their parents good nutritional habits. It's a challenge. But we're getting a few more kids into each session. One of the my goals is to put together a team for kids who have been through the program to run the Ghost and Goblins 5K around Halloween. It'll be a reward to all the work they put in."

Nisevich plans to continue her training for distances races along with adding cycling and swimming for triathalons. "I've always been a good cyclist," she said. "With the way gas prices are, I'm going to ride my bike to work as often as possible. That will help me save money and get miles in for my cycling workout. I've never been a very good swimmer so I really have to work on that.

"I might do a couple of local triathalons, but nothing beyond that. I don't want to go to some big event just to go and put in lousy performance. When I go to a big triathalon, I want to be competitive."

Choosing healthy lifestyles

In between her training and duties at Children's, Nisevich also has a consulting business as a sports nutritionist called Nutrition for the Long Run. She helps individuals, athletes and teams learn to eat right for peak athletic performance for a lifetime.

"Before entering Miami, I considered going to culinary school and becoming a professional chef. I have always been captivated by the powers of the kitchen. Cooking and baking allow me to express my creative talents. While I could follow a recipe, I always try to create new variations that are more nutritious. I owe thanks to friends who weren't afraid to try my experiments," she said. "Miami has an excellent business school and, as a freshman, I initially chose business as my major.

"I found that no matter how profitable a job in business might be, it was not for me. Instead, I chose pre-med and dietetics. The Division of Dietetics is in the School of Physical Health and Sports Studies, and I was able to focus most of my nondietetic classes on sports and exercise physiology. I chose dietetics as my career because I felt that I could help people through prevention as opposed to pharmaceutical treatments. I'm confident if I can motivate clients to choose healthy living styles, we can work together to prevent chronic diseases and costly medical services. To me, good nutrition and wholesome lifestyles seem like a natural, common sense approach to health."

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