Gina Lucrezi | Photograph by Adam Williams
Overview: Gina Lucrezi founded Trail Sisters, the leading women’s trail running organization in the U.S., if not world. This passion extends from her standout running career – track and trail – as a National Champion and 10-time All-American at DeSales University, then as a professional trail runner and as a gold medal-winning member of the 2012 Team USA World Long Distance trail-running team in Interlaken, Switzerland.
Gina talks with Adam Williams about those experiences and shaping influences in her life, as well as her volunteer service and leadership for Chaffee County (Colo.) Search & Rescue North, her being featured in “The Candidate,” a documentary of her latest campaign for public office, and how she learned to harness the power in her experience of ADHD.
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SHOW NOTES, LINKS, CREDITS & TRANSCRIPT
The We Are Chaffee podcast is supported by Chaffee County Public Health.
Along with being distributed on podcast listening platforms (e.g. Spotify, Apple), We Are Chaffee is broadcast weekly at 2 p.m. on Tuesdays, on KHEN 106.9 community radio FM in Salida, Colo.
Gina Lucrezi & Trail Sisters
Website: trailsisters.net
Instagram: instagram.com/trail_sisters
Facebook: facebook.com/trailsisters1
Website: ginaforchaffee.com
Instagram: instagram.com/ginaforchaffee
Documentary: “The Candidate”
We Are Chaffee Podcast
Website: wearechaffeepod.com
Instagram: instagram.com/wearechaffeepod
CREDITS
We Are Chaffee Host, Producer, Photographer & Website Manager: Adam Williams
We Are Chaffee Engineer & Producer: Jon Pray
We Are Chaffee Community Advocacy Coordinator: Lisa Martin
Director of Chaffee County Public Health and Environment: Andrea Carlstrom
TRANSCRIPT
Note: Transcripts are produced using a transcription service. Although it is largely accurate, minor errors inevitably exist.
[Intro music, guitar instrumental]
Adam Williams (00:00:14): Welcome to the We Are Chaffee podcast, where I have conversations of community, humanness and well-being with the incredible people of Chaffee County, Colorado. I’m Adam Williams.
Today I’m talking with Gina Lucrezi. As you’ll hear me tell Gina in this conversation, I see her as a dynamic, energetic, positive, make-good-things-happen kind of human being. And I know for certain that many thousands of our fellow Chaffee County neighbors agree because they recently voted for her to lead as one of our three county commissioners.
(00:00:47): So Gina and I talk about the draw she feels toward public service. It seems to be a current that runs through many of the ways of showing up in our life, from founding and leading Trail Sisters, which is the leading women’s trail running organization maybe in the world, to her volunteering and leadership roles for Chaffee County Search and Rescue North, to her official elected roles in our community, too, which in recent years has involved serving as a town trustee and mayor pro tem in Buena Vista, and now very soon as a county commissioner.
(00:01:17): We talk about some of the formative experiences in her life, like with running, track and field, cross-country, and later trail and ultra marathon running. She was a 10-time All-American and a national champion at DeSales University. She would become a professional trail runner and she would win gold for Team USA as part of a trail marathon team. The grit of all those running experiences – physical, mental, emotional – to me that no doubt transfers to Gina’s other endeavors.
(00:01:46): So we talk about where her hard-work ethic and bet-on-herself confidence came from. We also talk about her being diagnosed with ADHD as a young child, the challenges that presented and how she has learned to harness it as what she refers to as a superpower.
The We Are Chaffee podcast is supported by Chaffee County Public Health, and it’s part of the larger We Are Chaffee storytelling initiative. Go to wearechaffeepod.com to see episode show notes with photos, links, and a transcript of the conversation. You can subscribe to the monthly email newsletter there as well. And if you are on Instagram, you can see more photos and connect with the podcast at We Are Chaffee Pod.
Now, here is Gina Lucrezi.
[Transition music, guitar instrumental]
Adam Williams (00:02:37): I want to learn about Trail Sisters, which I think you founded in 2016, is that right?
Gina Lucrezi (00:02:41): Correct.
Adam Williams (00:02:42): And my understanding is that this is the largest women’s trail running organization in the country, if not world?
Gina Lucrezi (00:02:49): Correct.
Adam Williams (00:02:50): And I think that is so amazing and that you’re right here, you’re local to us, but you are changing the world in this way. I want to hear about it though, how and why did you start Trail Sisters?
Gina Lucrezi (00:03:02): Oh jeez. Yeah, and thank you for that. So yeah, I started in 2016, but it really came about prior to that in terms of conception and just the idea behind it. But I’ve been working in the outdoor industry leading up about eight years. I’d done marketing for a trail run company, shoes, if you will. And then I’d worked for different advertising agencies, Trail Run Magazine, iRunFar. And then I also ended up working as a consultant doing marketing projects for various outdoor brands, like Julbo, Ultimate Direction, [inaudible 00:03:42].
(00:03:44): And also I was, well it sounds silly to say, professional trail runner, but I didn’t really make anything. So that’s kind of the joke with all that. I mean, today they’re doing much better. There’s a lot more money involved in the sport, which is great and deservedly so, but within all these jobs I had in the outdoor industry specifically to trail running, I just realized there was a huge lack of women’s perspective and voice in the sport. And as a woman, I’m sitting there, I’m like, hey, I have so many friends that love this sport and want to do more with it, but it feels like we’re absent in this world of media with the brands at races.
(00:04:25): So I guess what I knew the best was how do I get stories and ideas and suggestions and tips and education from various women and just put it out there so people realize, hey, we’re here and there’s a lot that we can offer. So I started what was called the Trail Sisters Journal, and it was an online journal and I got seven friends together that I had in the space and like, “Hey, would you be willing to write a column or an article for me?” And so everybody did their piece and I shared it, I think one per per week for a couple months, and we’d all put it on our social media and people started to find it and read and they were like, “Hey, how can I get involved in? Is it possible for me to be a contributor? What can I share?” And kind of took off from there. But it was a passion project really to just bring more women to the space and grow that awareness and celebration for women in sport.
Adam Williams (00:05:24): When you started it that way as a journal, what did you think might happen when you published those? Did you have any concept of, well, we might get our friends, our local, each of us having our own friend groups, maybe wherever we’re living, or 50 people, let’s say to read this, 100 people, what did you think might happen?
Gina Lucrezi (00:05:46): That’s a great question. I really don’t know. I think for me, I just wanted to do something more than just talk about how, wow, I wish we had more going on for women in sport and trail running, to my friends that I would run with daily or weekly or whatever. And so I guess obviously I hoped people would find it and read it and that more people would want to contribute to it. But I guess I was really just hoping to get more awareness. But that’s a great question. I don’t know. I just wanted to do something and I figured that was the first step and then whatever resulted from it, I’d embrace that next. But I don’t know. I was motivated to take action.
Adam Williams (00:06:28): No, I understand. Yeah, I think it’s… I’m thinking of artists who feel compelled to express something. And you hope, of course, that people are going to see and appreciate and engage with it. You don’t really have control over that part, but you take the first step. And in this case that’s to write the stories and you gathered your friends and you at least know that you have that group who’s sharing and collaborating in this thing.
Gina Lucrezi (00:06:53): Well, the idea that people will hopefully read it, that it inspires them to then share whatever they’ve learned with their friends, or just, I don’t know, help them to feel good about what they’re doing and that they’re not alone and other people are going through similar situations and hopefully that inspire. So our platform, essentially the three things that were most important were inspiration, education, and empowerment.
(00:07:18): So each article that is published is really supposed to dive into one of those or have that be included as a part of the messaging. And so I always felt that if you can convey those things, man, I mean your ability to share with other people, you feel good about yourself, your confidence rises. It’s endless. Not just in the sport of trail running, but hopefully in their daily lives. And I’ve kind of put that more together as I’ve gone along with Trail Sisters, but at the beginning it was just to hopefully get people in an awareness that, hey, we see you, we’re here for you. What can we do to help you get out there and feel better about what you’re doing? That there’s this little family that, I don’t know, we’re out there for them too, so a feel-good thing I guess.
Adam Williams (00:08:05): There’s now more than 150 groups. I don’t know if you call them chapters or-
Gina Lucrezi (00:08:10): Local groups. Yeah. Chapters works too.
Adam Williams (00:08:11): So they’re across the country. You’ve even touched into Canada, I think with some, so this clearly and over the course of nearly nine years has grown into something that was so much more than you might’ve even hoped?
Gina Lucrezi (00:08:26): Yeah, yeah. It’s been a wild ride, one that I am very thankful for, and ups and downs, of course, it’s like anything. But yeah, it started as the journal and then we had this online community, if you will, that people would email and say, “How do I meet local Trail Sisters? I want to go out and run with folks. How is that possible? How can I connect?” I was like, oh geez, how do I do this one? And so we started with Facebook groups because it was easy and it was free. And then we eventually, at this point, we now created our own version of a community website or platform. So you could say it’s like a Facebook bar, so we don’t have the billions of dollars that Facebook has to make it that sexy, but it’s a great platform, but it’s specific to what we do.
And so all of our groups are housed there and it’s all free of course, but people can just log on and join a group and then connect and they go out and they’re supposed to… the groups are ebb and flow of how busy they are because they’re all volunteer led. So generally there should be at least two runs per month, or let’s say adventures because a lot of them are hike runs. One of the misconception’s like, “Oh, are these all fast people?” Just, it’s like, no, no, it’s for everybody. We do no drop runs, which is a lot of, hey, maybe you go a half mile or a mile, you stop, you wait for everybody to regroup and then you continue on. The whole idea is, hey, we’re here for everybody, we want everybody to have a great time and have the chance to learn things and make new friends throughout the group. And that’s hard to do it if you’re turning it into something that’s more of a-
Adam Williams (00:10:01): Competitive something, right?
Gina Lucrezi (00:10:02): Yes,
Adam Williams (00:10:03): Or only for those who are elite.
Gina Lucrezi (00:10:05): Right.
Adam Williams (00:10:05): I mean, let’s say if you and I ran together, I would need you to do a no-drop pause for me, because yeah, we’re at very different levels I think.
Gina Lucrezi (00:10:16): Well, I’m of the mindset if somebody has to go out and get a workout in or hit times or they have repeats, whatever it is, either find the right training partner for that or you do it solo. But the Trail Sisters groups are really for more of that community, that social hour, that time to connect. Because yes, it’s the trails that bring everybody together, but it’s more than that. It’s about building that camaraderie and strengthening each other’s education on the trails in the outdoors, but also, I don’t know, building confidence for one another. I kind of can go down the rabbit hole with confidence building, but I think especially for women, I believe, I mean, everybody might have a, how do I put it? Lack of confidence in something. Men, women, like everybody.
Adam Williams (00:11:02): Sure.
Gina Lucrezi (00:11:04): But I think in my time speaking with tons of women through Trail Sisters, that’s one common issue I see quite a bit that they’re not sure about this or that. And I’m like, “Well, how can we build that?” And I think you can really increase your confidence by spending time with other people and going through situations and just learning more through that avenue. And so with the groups, it’s not only about the trail running, but I think it’s building each other up and strengthening them for more than just trail runs, but their everyday life going to work with their family and anything else you want to throw in the mix. So it’s grown into something, in my opinion, that’s bigger than just the trail.
Adam Williams (00:11:43): You have a lot of personal running history that goes all the way back to at least high school, maybe earlier?
Gina Lucrezi (00:11:50): High school. I’d say high school. Y.yeah High school is kind of where it started. I was a field hockey player. That’s where everything started for me in sport. But we’d have to do a mile time trial for field hockey, and I would do really well and would win that little… it wasn’t a competition, but I always finished first and our track coach was like, “Hey, you should probably come out for track.” And I was like, “All right, a little more running.” And I broke our school record my freshman year, and after that it was like, oh, there might be something there.
Adam Williams (00:12:22): In what event?
Gina Lucrezi (00:12:23): The mile. Sorry. Yep. So as a mid-distance runner, so mile, that’s always been my, well, I don’t do that anymore, that speed, but that was always my favorite distance was the mile or the 1500 when I got to college. They’d throw me in the two mile, and I always hated having to run the two mile in high school because nobody would ever stay around for, it it was usually at the end of the meet, people wouldn’t… it was long. You had eight laps around the track, people would leave or you just kind of felt like you’re out there doing your thing by yourself and the last lap, then people might start clapping for you like yay. But I was a pretty good runner and I would often win that distance, so I’d help the team get points. So I knew I was stuck doing it, but then of course years later, here I am doing ultra distances, but at that time I couldn’t stand two miles. So it’s just funny where things take you.
Adam Williams (00:13:17): I was thinking about before you came in here, because I knew we would be talking about running, how I had no interest in running when I was younger and in high school we would run, I think it might’ve only been two miles, maybe three for preseason conditioning for basketball. And I thought it was forever. I hated it. They were the worst days of the season, worst days of my life. And now I love running and I run for hour or hours, and I never would’ve when I was younger thought I would ever, like why would I ever do that? It’s just torture.
Gina Lucrezi (00:13:50): Right. Well, it’s funny. I think it’s a social thing. I think, I mean, hindsight’s 20/20, right? But looking back, I loved field hockey because I love so much more of that team atmosphere. And we would talk to each other, we’re playing on the field, but we could still communicate and we could breathe. When you’re running the mile or the two mile, you’re out there, you have a team, a track team, but you’re not really, you don’t have a chance to conversate.
You’re focused, you’re doing your event and breathing the best you can. It just has a different appeal. And I think for a lot of people like, oh, that doesn’t seem appealing. But ironically, later in life, you take a lot of these ball sports or team sports, I should say, and a lot of those folks are like, “Oh, I love running.” At that time, it wasn’t something that was of interest because I think it was really the social aspect. But, in my opinion, that’s my guess, but.
Adam Williams (00:14:43): You went on to running college and extremely successfully, I would say. You went to DeSales University, D3, you were an All-American and 10-time national champ.
Gina Lucrezi (00:14:55): Yeah, 10-time Division III All-American. I was a national champ one time in the indoor 1500. Oh, it would be amazing if I was a ten-time national champion though.
Adam Williams (00:15:06): Isn’t it amazing to be 10-time All-American?
Gina Lucrezi (00:15:09): Yes.
Adam Williams (00:15:09): That’s pretty wild.
Gina Lucrezi (00:15:10): Yeah, yeah. I can’t complain. I never would’ve thought, I don’t know. I mean, I’m 41 years old, and this was a long time ago, of course, but it really did, it shifted my life to a place I never thought of before that. I thought I was going to be a marine biologist and somehow I got into the trail running world, and that’s kind of where I stayed. And obviously now I’m doing some other things, but it’s just interesting.
(00:15:38): I had some success obviously through high school and then in college, and it was a great opportunity and I just kind of fell in love more and more with what I was doing in the outdoor space then through the trails. We could never run trails in college because they were always like, “Oh, if you hurt your ankle or you twist it on a rock, you won’t be able to race next weekend,” at whatever the meet was. So I didn’t find trail running until much later, but the college success was, it was addictive too. You start to have some success, you get kind of tunnel vision and want to continue doing that. And so it kind of took a hold of me more than I realized it was, if that makes sense.
Adam Williams (00:16:20): We’ll talk about confidence building. When we are really good at something, when we win in these sorts of environments, when people pat us on the back and say, “You’re amazing and here are some honors for you.” It’s pretty hard not to feel better about yourself and want to continue down that path because you think, “I must be good at something. Why wouldn’t I continue to thing I’m good at?”
Gina Lucrezi (00:16:42): Right, right. Well, absolutely. Yeah. It was just, all right, keep doing this. And it was fun, you start to learn more. It’s like anything, I guess, make more friends within that space, going to different meets, even started to know different competitors at different schools and yeah.
Adam Williams (00:16:58): Was there a respect thing you started to have there where they would recognize you, you would recognize them, and you’re like, we are the number one for whatever event on our teams and recognize apples to apples there?
Gina Lucrezi (00:17:12): Yeah, I think so. Always had respect for everybody in general, just putting yourself out there. No matter where you place within the sport, you’re doing the thing, that finish line, it’s the same distance for everybody, so you’re all working your tails off, but you would start to know who your main competition would be and you connect. We had, I don’t know, Facebook just started when I was in college maybe, but you’d be able to connect with some folks.
(00:17:39): And I remember looking at newspaper clippings and following along how people were doing and trying to strategize when did they turn on the heat for the 1500 or the mile? Was it the third lap? Was it the last 200 in the mile? So you’d really start to kind of dial in a little bit on who your main competition was, but I think everybody had that respect. I never ran into anybody that was specifically just angry or gruff, but everybody wants to win. You might be quieter before or more quiet before the race and then afterwards you’re a little bit whichever way it goes, but you’re more chatty afterwards. But those are the nerves.
Adam Williams (00:18:22): I was just wondering, it’s interesting that you brought up kind of watching, let’s say game tape, watching how they perform, because I was just wondering, coming from a place as an athlete who played ball sports, and I mentioned basketball in particular, you might watch game tape and scout their particular stars and kind of playing your game around defending against them or how you want to offensively attack that team and those players.
(00:18:48): So in this individualized sport sort of, you’re competing, like you said, as an individual, even though you’re part of a track team, I just wondered how would that translate? And so you started spelling that out, and that’s really interesting to me to learn how, I guess strategy of different athletes might play out. How does that affect how you would approach that? Because I would think that you don’t want to necessarily tailor your strategy to someone else’s. So how are you taking that information and then countering that somehow within your own intention?
Gina Lucrezi (00:19:24): That’s a great… This is going back way far, but I remember in high school, which like I said, we’re going far back here, but running against the same people, same teams, you start to notice, hey, their style. And of course, like you said, you have your own, which makes sense, you know what works for you. But there’s this one school we’d race against, it was Notre Dame of Green Pond, and they had great runners. They always had a great team. There was this one girl, she would always turn it on the third lap. I remember it because the first time I ran against her I lost because I was like, oh wow, she’s already taken off. We crossed the 800 meters and then she started to pick it up at the end of the first turn in the third lap. And I was like, oh, I can’t keep up with her for two laps, right? So it’s like, I’ll just do my own thing and whatever juice I have left in the last lap, I’ll let it go.
(00:20:14): And I could never catch up to her. I let her go. I could have stayed with her, but I let her go, but it felt like I didn’t think I could keep her pace. And then the next year as a senior… Oh no, I’m sorry, my junior year, that was the sophomore year thing, when I had to face her again, I remember she picked it up on the third lap and I thought, what if I go? What if I go with her? And so I did, and she couldn’t hold it the last lap. And I surprised myself because I had enough to continue going. And so then I overtook her and I was able to take the last lap ahead of her and win the race. But one of my mantras is take a bet on yourself and develop that later. But it’s just funny looking back and being like, well, I took that chance and it paid off. It doesn’t always, don’t get me wrong, but…
Adam Williams (00:21:05): To take that chance though was really key. And that’s what I was thinking through when you were saying the first time you encountered her. What if you don’t know if you can keep up? So it sounds like more of a fear thing.
Gina Lucrezi (00:21:05): Yeah.
Adam Williams (00:21:16): And I love talking about all of this because I think there really is metaphor here between all the running and the different mental and emotional and all these things that come into play with running and life. So to me, what we’re doing here is also talking about what builds to where you have gone with Trail Sisters and we can talk about your public service and running elections and all these things. To me, this is all relevant, it’s all metaphor and goes together. I wondered in your telling of the second time you ran against her, what I’m thinking is you said she didn’t keep up. What if she was so used to breaking people in the third lap that by the time she got to the fourth, she was so struggling, but nobody ever challenged it. So she was so far ahead, she’d broken their mental will. Right? So you finally challenged her and she couldn’t keep up with you.
Gina Lucrezi (00:22:04): Yeah,
Adam Williams (00:22:05): That’s a great story.
Gina Lucrezi (00:22:06): Yeah. I mean obviously I’m not her, so I don’t know how she felt, but I could continue on and she could not. But I think that was the plan. But it was a great strategy. She was a top runner in our league for years and years, and so everybody has their own thing, but you don’t know your limits until you try to find them, I guess. And fear holds a lot of folks back, and rightfully so at times. I get it, putting yourself out there, being vulnerable, it’s not easy, but every once in a while you try to inch into that space and when it works out and you’re like, “Oh, I’m glad I did.” Hopefully it encourages more people to take those chances and see what they’re really capable of.
Adam Williams (00:22:49): Some risks are bigger than others, and I think that we all need to be willing to step out there from time to time, maybe identify the ones that carry a little less risk. And running can be one of those things, right?
Gina Lucrezi (00:23:04): Yes, yeah. A little safer.
Adam Williams (00:23:04): It’s like, okay, if I end up DNFing this run, if I can’t finish this ultra run because I pushed too hard, I just learned something about myself, okay.
Gina Lucrezi (00:23:15): Right, sure.
Adam Williams (00:23:15): Next time I’ll try it differently.
Gina Lucrezi (00:23:17): Right.
Adam Williams (00:23:17): And so often though, we do allow fear to hold us back. I personally, in thinking about your running the mile and how I said when I was in high school conditioning for pre-season with basketball, I’m like, I hated running two or three miles. I would much rather, I can’t imagine being a mile track athlete or 5K cross country, somebody who’s just pushing it to the wire the whole time. I would much rather run 10, 20, 30, 50K because I can suffer at a level that is sustained but more comfortable. I don’t know how to push myself against that wall and make it hurt for 5K.
Gina Lucrezi (00:23:58): Right, right. Okay. So it’s funny you say that. So I mean, yeah, my distances have shifted until today, I do much longer stuff, but I have an inkling to get back into doing another 100 mile. And my husband’s always like, “Well wait, you haven’t done one in a little bit. Maybe you should just start with a marathon or something else.” And I’m like, my big fear, I’m like, “Oh, but I have to work so much harder and be so much faster in that distance. We’re in the 100, heck I can hike. It’s so funny. And to think from starting with this mile, but you’re absolutely right, you feel like you’re in an anaerobic state for the entire time. The 800, the people that run that distance, I’m like, where do you take your… do get 100 meters of just relaxation? Because it’s just a full on push the entire time.
(00:24:55): With the mile, I always felt like at least there was some space within those four laps that I would have breathing room where I could, all right, we’re going to settle in here and then we’re going to turn it back on maybe the last lap or whatever it was, depending on who I was running against. Because I do think there’s strategy involved with all of that, but it’s nuanced I guess depending on who you’re running, which race it is, yada yada. But yeah, it’s weird to think about now, I’m like, I don’t know how the heck I did that. How you just have that speed at younger times too.
Adam Williams (00:25:24): Yeah, it’s hard for me to think back to how some things went better when I was younger, probably just because my body either recovered better, it was stronger, maybe. I don’t know. I’m having to deal with some age things now. You mentioned you’re 41, I’m 48. I don’t have the running career and background that you do. And so as I’m trying to get into these things more and more, and then I face injuries and I then have to back off, I’m like, well, how much of this is just one, I need to learn? And two, my body is older than it used to be, so I am really in a different position when it comes to figuring it out I think.
Gina Lucrezi (00:26:00): Strength training, strength training, that’s what they’ll tell you. Anybody you talk to, they’ll be, “Do your strength training.” And I’m telling you now, and I don’t do it either, but that’s the one thing as you get older, they’re like, “Make sure you incorporate more strength training.” And it’s not a hard thing to go do, but for some reason I’m like, “No, I just run, come home and that’s it.” And then I’m like, “Why am I sore?” I’m like, “Oh, I should be doing that strength training.” But yeah, anyway.
Adam Williams (00:26:25): And stretching too, and all the things, just the body care that is so much different now at this age than it was when we were younger. And I mean, I wasn’t taught those things, but even if I had really been, I probably would’ve just allowed the way my body would recoup and do its own thing. I don’t think I needed it so much. It’s just like when I was in my twenties and I could eat whatever I wanted, I could drink whatever I wanted, and now I think back on, how was I doing all that? Things were different.
Gina Lucrezi (00:26:51): That’s right.
Adam Williams (00:26:53): You went on to be a pro runner, as you mentioned. You also ran for Team USA, and we don’t have to linger on this too long if you don’t want, I know we have other great parts of your story to get into, but I just don’t want to skip that. I think that’s pretty cool. So what was that experience? Is there anything there you want to share and maybe how that came to be or what that meant to you to run for the USA?
Gina Lucrezi (00:27:15): Yeah, it’s funny, throughout the college career, and I am so appreciative of the opportunities I had and where I was able to do that at DeSales, I always had wondered, at a Division III university, and it was great. I went for television and film was the degree I was going for. They had an excellent program. And so I went to school for education. I wasn’t going to be some professional whatever athlete in terms of, you have a lot of people go to great schools and they want to be professional football players, so they go to the right school for that. But I always wondered what it would’ve been like if I did go to a D-I program where there was more resources, more coaching staff, just everything. It would’ve been more my life than what it was at this D-III school. And so having such a pretty darn impressive career in college, I wondered what else could I do?
(00:28:13): And I was always kind of, I wish I had the opportunity. I think I have the chops to run on some version of a USA team. I could never be an Olympian. I don’t have that caliber, I’m not that pedigree, but I know I could do more than what I did. And so I eventually found trail running. I found that actually when I moved to Colorado Springs in 2008. I came out here for a master’s degree… well, to finish an internship from a master’s degree in sports management. And so I was able to get an internship with the United States Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs. So that was one of my big shifts to Colorado, what really got me started here. But that’s also when I started trail running and I had met a woman named Nancy Hobbs who’s affiliated with the American Trail Running Association. She’s based in the Springs, and she is also originally from Pennsylvania too, which is kind of fun because that’s where I’m from originally.
(00:29:07): And she was like, “You should get into this trail running. It’s great.” And she took me out for a few runs, kicked my butt on the first few, and then slowly I picked up on, okay, this is different. Your stride has to shorten and your pace changes when you go uphill, you can’t run it like you’re running down the road, so you figure it out. But I still had that competitive edge, that hunger to do more than what I had done in college. And there were some races that I could… qualifier races for different USA events, and I was able to get on Team USA, which was the event that, it was the World Long Distance Championships, and they were held in Interlaken in Switzerland. It was a marathon distance on the trail. The first half was more so on roads, and the second half went all the way up to essentially the face of the Jungfrau.
(00:29:57): So it was a pretty cool course. Definitely kicked my butt because it was a lot of climbing that second half because the first half was short, but we took home first place. So that was such an honor. I’ve always, I don’t know, I’ve wanted to represent my country. I love my country and I’ve worked my tail off in the sport, and I always thought, hey, the next step would be not just to represent my school or my state, or how can I take this to the next level? And like I said, I knew I’d never be the ability to be an Olympian or something like that, but how could I represent my country and do something in that vein? And that’s where I was able to find it. And so I’m very thankful for it. I still have my jersey and other things that you receive when you’re able to be on a team, it means a lot to me to have had the opportunity, so.
Adam Williams (00:30:49): What year was that?
Gina Lucrezi (00:30:50): Oh gosh. I know I should know this. I want to say ’13, maybe 2013? I’ll have to go back and look. I should know off the top of my head but there’s so many dates of things anymore, but.
Adam Williams (00:31:01): I’m putting into context. That’s a few years then before you started Trail Sisters.
Gina Lucrezi (00:31:06): Yes. Yes.
Adam Williams (00:31:07): And before you would move to Chaffee County, where I’m now going to connect some dots here that this running career and you going onto Trails with that has led you, it seems like, in some way to Chaffee County Search and Rescue, which you are so involved in and have been for several years, and I think you’re a training director there now, and you are someone who is… is it hasty? Do I have the word right?
Gina Lucrezi (00:31:38): Oh, yeah, yeah. Hasty team. Yep.
Adam Williams (00:31:39): So you’re on the hasty team, which means that you’re one of the people who gets up the mountain faster, gets up the trail faster, gets to the person who is needing your help faster. There’s got to be a connection, I’m thinking, between everything you’ve built up in your capacity for running and trails to now you’re providing this service in such a meaningful way with search and rescue. Am I connecting dots that I shouldn’t be or does that make sense?
Gina Lucrezi (00:32:06): No, no, it totally does. And I was the training director for three years. I’ve been on the team for a total of five, and this year I’m now the vice president for Chaffee County Search and Rescue North, but I was our training director for three years. But yeah, giving back and getting involved with community is near and dear to me. It’s funny, I didn’t realize that was what it was to me until more recently. Again, hindsight’s 20/20 where you start to see those trends in your life and why you do things. But with running, encouraging people to get out on the trails and enjoy, I kind of thought, well, it’d be nice to be able to go out and help people that have a rough day or an injury or an accident. So how could I give back and help pull those people off the mountain?
(00:32:53): But I mean, along with that, it’s such a great community. We’re all volunteers. You go out there and you help because you want to help. And I love the outdoors, I love the trails. So this is also an opportunity to spend more time outside, but doing it in a way that obviously there’s a different purpose when we’re out there on a mission to go rescue somebody or search for somebody.
(00:33:15): But it’s been a lot of fun. The team is incredible. It’s a whole new group of family members as well. I’ve lived most of my life in this outdoor industry running community, if you will. And so it turns out to be really small after a while because so many people with different brands and media organizations and then just everyday runners, you run into them quite a bit at different races and such. But search and rescue is a whole different group of folks. And so having the ability to kind of mix with them is, I don’t know, I’ve learned quite a bit just from their backgrounds and their lives and things they’ve done, and it’s been pretty darn neat.
Adam Williams (00:33:54): I’m curious to know more about search and rescue kind of broadly here, but sticking with the hasty team for a moment, I am curious if that means that you run up the trails to get to somebody, are you with a heavy pack, and so we’re talking about maybe speed hiking, but the running has helped you because you’ve developed this capacity to do that? Or what does that really mean?
Gina Lucrezi (00:34:16): Okay, so for hasty team, we have a rule, you always have to go with somebody else. So you should never be out there blazing the trail by yourself to get to a subject or to start searching. So you should always go into pairs, and if there’s more, that’s fine, but definitely two. And generally, you can really only move as fast as the other person that you’re with or the group that you’re with. There’s been a few missions I’ve been on where we’ve been able to do a light trot. It’s hard to actually do a full-blown run or jog, if you will, just because you will be carrying some version of gear more so than you might be on a trail run with just your little lightweight hydration pack or something, right?
(00:34:52): But the hasty team, if there are known injuries, if we have contact with the subject and there’s things we know we can bring up, we’ll take them with us. If it’s, hey, their SOS is going off, but we don’t have any communication, we’re not sure of what they need, then it’s generally we’ll take some vital gear, hot packs, things like that to warm people up and some just basic first aid things like that, we’ll take that up. But once we arrive is when we radio back to the team, “Hey, are we going to need a litter? Are we going to need a helicopter flight out? What other things might we need to help this subject and make them more comfortable?”
(00:35:32): So generally, move fairly lightweight when you’re on a hasty team and you do move a lot more quickly than you would with some of the other groups that would be deployed after. But yeah, you really can only go as fast as the other person you’re with. But we have a decent amount of people in the team that can cruise. I’d say we have maybe a few people can jog, but the other group of hasty members can do quite, I’d say a very quick hike. If you’re wearing boots, it makes it harder to jog up the trail too.
Adam Williams (00:36:07): Sure, sure. What strikes me about this is the real world application of your running and trail abilities for something that’s so important. It is not something I’ve thought about, and to be honest, this is why I want to learn more about search and rescue and what we have going on here, because I know that this group exists. My understanding is that it’s volunteer based. It’s not funded by the state or anything like that. And I don’t think, I mean, I’ve not needed you to show up for me yet, so I don’t have that direct connection.
Gina Lucrezi (00:36:40): I hope we don’t ever have to.
Adam Williams (00:36:41): Well, yeah. But it also means that I feel like I’m less aware of what all you all are doing out there. I don’t know how many calls a year you might be doing. This is just some potentially, well, dangerous and risky work, and also just so important to our community.
Gina Lucrezi (00:37:00): Yeah, yeah. I mean, for us, Chaffee County Search and Rescue North, it’s about 60s on average per year, and the majority of rescues or searches are generally the summertime, warmer weather. But we do have some things in the winter, and that’s usually snow machine related because we don’t have… I mean, I’m sure you can do back country skiing here, but there’s not as much as some other areas of the state. But yeah, it’s interesting.
(00:37:28): One thing I can say is I love that people get out there and they’re enjoying it. I always think of it as, please take a little bit more than what you think you might need. If you get into a pickle, please have something that can take care of you or make your time on the trail more comfortable before search and rescue can reach you. One thing that folks tend to think is, okay, I do have communication with the sheriff’s department or whatever, any version of communication to go get help, but they expect us to be there in an hour, and I’m like it doesn’t… we’re not that fast.
(00:38:04): It’s not because we don’t want to be. It’s just the process, right? By the time the call comes in, it goes to dispatch, then dispatch sends out the page to whoever’s our incident commander. So it’s the person that’s on call that will then wrangle whatever volunteer search and rescue members are available. Because again, we’re all volunteer. You might, maybe it’s midday and you’re at your nine to five or you’re eight to five, or maybe it’s in the middle of the night. So then we all meet at the Bay. That’s what we call the kind of headquarters where everything’s staged, come up with a plan, which has kind of been happening throughout this entire process with the incident commander. And then we get in the vehicles, we’re deployed to the trail head or wherever we need to go.
(00:38:50): And then once we’re there, we’ll get our gear together and make sure we’re good to go. Rehash a few more here’s going on in terms of the plan. And then we start up the trail, so it can take a couple hours before we get to the subject. So it’s never super quick. If we know that there needs to be a helicopter involved and we’re able to get them requested, they’re free or available, we use Reach and Flight for Life, and sometimes we use Cañon City Helitack depending on the situation, but they’re also dealing with a lot of other issues, car accidents, flying from hospital to hospital, so they’re not always available, or if there’s bad weather. So it’s not always like, oh, a sure bet you can get a helicopter. And there’s a cost that comes with Reach and Flight for Life. So they’re not free rides. So anybody listening that thinks, hey, you get tired and you want a helicopter ride, you’re going to pay for it.
(00:39:45): To be honest, they usually won’t take something unless it’s very much needed. But that sometimes can be a little quicker. They can stop at the Bay, pick up one or two members from Search and Rescue that have a medical background, then they’ll drop them on a ridge line or where it makes sense, and then those folks can get to the subject much more quickly. But we’re talking head injury, severe injuries, and then they can get lifted out. So that might be a bit quicker. But if we’re going up hiking-wise and we’re carrying litters, it does take time. So everybody that’s listening, definitely, please take a little bit more with you than you think you might need, just because if you are in a predicament, it doesn’t matter how good of a hiker or a runner or a cyclist, whatever, you could be an ace but sometimes Mother Nature has a different plan, and if you wreck your bike or screw up your ankle and you’re the best in the business, it happens.
Adam Williams (00:40:39): I think sometimes, maybe a lot of times we underestimate the power of Mother Nature and overestimate our own abilities, and we get ourselves into situations. We’re clearly talking about a lot of moving pieces here, a lot of resources. Somehow this is being paid for. I mentioned it being a volunteer force. Can you explain that? I feel like that might be something that a lot of people either have a misconception about, just plain don’t understand. How does all of this work? How’s it being paid for? And I guess as an added question, I’m kind of curious, why is this volunteer? Why do we not have, in Colorado, why is this not… maybe it’s a state-funded agency of some kind?
Gina Lucrezi (00:41:23): So I mean, locally how we’re able to fund ourselves is obviously through a lot of fundraising efforts, grants. That’s generally how it works. There might be a line item from Chaffee County through the Sheriff’s department that also awards a little bit of funding for both North and South because we have two teams because our district is so large. But yeah, it’s generally grant funded. The only person within the state that gets paid as a search and rescue member, if you will, is the Colorado Search and Rescue President, to my understanding. So it’s the only person that’s paid for search and rescue efforts at all. And that person kind of takes care of all the search and rescue groups throughout the state in every county.
(00:42:13): But yeah, we do get some funding also through Parks and Wildlife, through as people purchase licensing and permits for hunting, fishing, there’s usually a little bit of a percentage that will come back that will go to those grant programs and things like that. But there’s no big bucket of money that is just there for search and rescue. We’ll sit there and you actually will end up spending money to volunteer for Search and Rescue.
We take, for the most part, we have a few vehicles, but then we’ll take our own vehicles to trail heads. You pay for your own gas if you’re not in one of the search and rescue vehicles. So you use your own gear. Now if something happens to your gear and it gets damaged or lost, there are funds from CoSAR, some other programs where it can be refunded. You can get new gear, but at the end of the day, the wear and tear, you’re actually putting into, you’re spending money to be a part of these organizations.
Adam Williams (00:43:15): Is CoSAR Colorado Search and Rescue? Is that what it stands for?
Gina Lucrezi (00:43:18): The CoSAR cards, there are these little cards that people can purchase that essentially helps to fund organizations and provide the opportunity to replace things like search and rescue gear that people lose. I know there’s a lot of trail races that actually require you to get a CoSAR card. They’re like five bucks. But I don’t want to say it’s like, it’s not like a fundraising program, but it’s not like a permit, but it’s just a way, I think, to give back to the local organization to help us out. So you could think of it as a minor fundraiser, but.
Adam Williams (00:43:52): Okay. If I need a helicopter ride or something, if I need all of you to come out there, am I going to be charged something? Do I need to worry about, I’m out there, I break an ankle hiking someplace maybe I shouldn’t have been or whatever the case is, am I going to end up with thousands and thousands of dollars of medical bills that I’ll regret?
Gina Lucrezi (00:44:13): Well, I’m no doctor, so I can’t tell you about all of that. But in terms of what search and rescue does, no, everything’s free. We come out there, we help you out. You do not owe anything to Colorado Search and Rescue. Nothing to-
Adam Williams (00:44:26): That’s the part I mean, sure. No, no, no. All the doctors and everything after that, yeah, I get that’s a separate issue.
Gina Lucrezi (00:44:31): The helicopter, so Cañon City Helitack, so they’re a state-funded helicopter service. They do a lot of firefighting actually or wildfire firefighting. And so if Flight for Life or Reach is unavailable, and Cañon City Helitack is, sometimes they’ll be able to come out and there’s no charge, to my understanding, from them because of the state funding, and they’re kind of a backup, if you will, but for Reach and Flight for Life, I mean, they’re coming to get you because you’re in a serious medical situation. And so they’ll take you straight to a hospital. But to be honest, at the end of the day, if you’re that beat up that you need a helicopter flight out, it’s probably worth it. It’s that or your life.
Adam Williams (00:45:18): Sure, right.
Gina Lucrezi (00:45:21): And I don’t know the costs that necessarily go along with it, and people can refuse it. If you’re unconscious though and something, you have internal injuries, whatever, we could tell you’re bleeding from the head and you’re nonresponsive, we’re not going to be like, let’s just wheel them out on a litter. We’ll probably just get you the helicopter. And people do have insurance, so at least most people, hopefully, and they can hopefully help with that. But there are some insurance programs that you can purchase specifically for things like that. I couldn’t tell you the name of the organization that you can utilize, but I know they exist because I’ve had people say, “Oh, I actually pay $10 a month,” or whatever it is for this extra service with my insurance in case of… So I know there are things that exist, but anyhow, yeah.
Adam Williams (00:46:11): It’s hard for me not to think about the costs when it comes to our healthcare. I think about those things and just wonder because I mean, I don’t want to take us down on some side lane here that’s less relevant, but because we’re talking about it, I just think about one of the last things I want to do is have something significant happen to me where I am creating some sort of financial stress or even catastrophe, which is possible, for my family because of unknown price tags on things. So that’s just where I’m coming from. It’s a personal fear kind of place for me.
Gina Lucrezi (00:46:46): On that note, real quick, I can say this with the whole fear factor of things, because there’s a lot of people are like, “Ah, I’m scared to go in the woods because what if a mountain lion will get me? And so I don’t want to go.” And I’m like, “Ah, you have a better chance of getting in an accident going to the grocery store than you ever do having an issue out on the trails on the mountains, regardless of whatever it is that you’re doing.” So I hope that the fear of those things doesn’t keep people away from enjoying the amazing opportunity of recreation or whatever it is, because I’m like, we have a better chance of getting ourselves in trouble doing everyday life things in town. But anyhow, just as a side note, just…
Adam Williams (00:47:25): We could take fear in a lot of directions.
Gina Lucrezi (00:47:27): Yes, yes, yes.
Adam Williams (00:47:29): Okay. Let’s talk about if we continue this idea of how you serve and how you show up for others, and we’re talking about with Trail Sisters, that’s about community, we’re talking about search and rescue and the ways you want to contribute to the community and help others. Well, somewhere along the way here in recent years, got into local politics and these elected positions as a town trustee, which for someone who’s not from here, that’s equivalent to city council. And then you recently won your election for Chaffee County Commissioner, so congratulations on that.
Gina Lucrezi (00:48:05): Thank you.
Adam Williams (00:48:07): I am curious what it’s like to show up in a ballot booth or however you do it, I suppose we do it at home, we can turn them in early here, but just to see your name on a ballot, to be able to vote for yourself, what does that feel like?
Gina Lucrezi (00:48:19): Well, that was pretty wild. It was weird and cool at the same time. It’s like, well, all right, we’re doing this. Obviously at that point you’re like, well, you better be ready for whatever shakes. But it was pretty cool, pretty hard to get to that point. And so it was just exciting feeling, hoping other people see that name and were excited to put a check mark by it.
Adam Williams (00:48:42): You obviously at that point have been campaigning for, I don’t know however many months, a year. I don’t know how long that goes. It just seems like a moment that really crystallizes, I’m really the candidate. I know I’ve been talking about it. Well, I think of it this way sometimes, when you’re trying to get a job, you put a lot of effort into trying to sell yourself to get the job, but then there’s also that moment where you’re like, oh, I actually now am committed and have to do this job. Should I be hired? And this is kind of a really long and wild, maybe challenging, maybe fun job interview you’re doing for thousands of people in the county. And then there’s that moment where you’re looking at the ballot and you’re like, wow. So this whole thing really is, it is tied to a real thing.
Gina Lucrezi (00:49:31): Yeah, here we go. Yeah. Yes. It was the longest job interview of my life. And it’s funny because I’ve been doing Trail Sisters for years before running for office here for county commissioner, and with Trail Sisters, it was my own creation. I didn’t really apply for a job for that. I created what it is and how it functions. So it’s been a long time since I’ve actually gone into an interview in a sense. But this, I started in, I announced in, I believe it was February. So it had been pretty much the full year before November comes, and you can do the thing and vote. But it was really exciting. There’s also those moments of, wow, this is a lot. Campaigning is, well, running, doing a full-time job and I’m a trustee and doing search and rescue and there’s other things that I’m a part of. It’s a lot.
(00:50:26): I know it’s different for everybody that wants to run, but there’s some folks that maybe are retired and they’re going into it, or they don’t have a lot of other things on their plate. And I was envious of the fact like, man, I wish I had more time to campaign but it’s hard to do so many things all at once because your life doesn’t stop in the other worlds where you’re campaigning. At least it didn’t for me. I have a family and I got to do my thing. So it was really interesting.
(00:50:52): But I love meeting with people. I love learning more about what’s important to them, what do they see, what do they want to see in the future? And so for me, it was a lot of fun to get out there and meet with folks. And you do the door knocking, you do a lot of events where you have to just go and speak, and you’re kind of just providing people, obviously your thoughts. You put your website together, the whole slew of what it takes to be, I guess a candidate and do a good job campaigning. You go through those motions and it was fun but there’s also those moments of, “This is a lot.” But if you can’t get through your campaign, then I don’t know why you’re running. So you’ve got to embrace it.
Adam Williams (00:51:38): It’s a great point. If you don’t have the energy for it and the passion and the interest and the right, we talk about what is your why, maybe it’s trail running, maybe it’s for something else. And for this, if you don’t have a good solid why that you are passionately connected to, yeah, maybe it’s not the job you really want.
Gina Lucrezi (00:51:56): Right. Well, that’s the thing, it’s like, I don’t know why anybody would run for something like this if they weren’t wholeheartedly involved in it and ready to just have that why and be excited. For me, it was sustainable future for generations to come and I’m really passionate about the outdoors and preservation and protections for our lands, our water, our wildlife. And then obviously housing is a big thing here. And trying to find more affordable options and how do we collaborate across the entire valley in making that happen?
(00:52:28): And then also, the economy was another part of my platform and making sure that we have more year round opportunities. We’re hot and heavy in the summer with tourism, which is great and that will always be a part of, I think, the economics of what makes Chaffee County run, but we really need to diversify that and have more. We can’t just rely on that all the time. And I think those three things together, the funny thing is they’re all somewhat related. A lot of people come here because they love the outdoors and to live here, it’s really expensive, so how do we make the housing work? And it’s just when it comes to the economic side or owning a business, you need people to work in these businesses. But if they can’t afford a home, how does that work? And then how do you keep your business running?
(00:53:13): So everything’s intertwined. And so at the end of the day, for a sustainable future, in my opinion, we need to really work on our balance. We can’t just focus on one area or the other. We need to be uplifting all these different areas and making sure that we’re doing it kind of the best we can simultaneously. But it’s not easy. If it was easy, I think we’d have all the answers and we wouldn’t have issues in any situation. But nobody has all the answers.
Adam Williams (00:53:38): We would’ve already solved it.
Gina Lucrezi (00:53:39): Exactly.
Adam Williams (00:53:40): Right? It’s not for lack of will.
Gina Lucrezi (00:53:41): No, that’s for sure.
Adam Williams (00:53:42): It’s because of the process and we all are connected in it, and we all need to take our place in helping find those solutions, I think, and bring them about. The other thing I was curious about, you see your name on the ballot, what does that feel like. Well, what does it feel like election night, the anticipation, is this going to go the way we want or not? I watched the documentary, the short film that was made of you
Gina Lucrezi (00:54:12): Oh, you saw it. Oh, nice.
Adam Williams (00:54:13): Which I also want to talk about, but the reason I bring it up in this moment is because I got to see, I wasn’t there on election night with you and the group of supporters, and so through that window of the documentary, I’m like, yeah, this is public. You’re standing there with people who, yes, they’re there to support you, they love you. Personally, because we tend to look through our own filters, I’m like, oh, will I feel embarrassed if I don’t win? How am I going to feel? Am I going to feel loved because I didn’t or what’s it feel like when I do? Right? How exciting and fun is that? I guess I’m just curious, what does that feel like to you at the other end of that day, into that night where you’re like, we’re going to find out whether this campaign went in the direction we wanted it to?
Gina Lucrezi (00:54:58): Right, right. Well, nerves, of course there’s nerves, but I’d asked myself earlier in the day, I mean, maybe say, hey, you asked yourself this way too late, but I was thinking, did I do everything I could have done? Is there anything else I could have done? And I started thinking, well, maybe a little bit here and there, but to make an impact that would sway this thing one way or the other? No, I don’t think so. I think I gave it my all and I worked my tail off and had a great support group. My husband was amazing. I couldn’t have done it without his support. I mean, I had lots of support from fabulous people from across the valley, but man, having that key person there for you every day and night, because he got to hear all the things good and bad.
Adam Williams (00:55:40): I wanted to ask you about him. Justin is your husband. I’ve only seen from afar and through the campaign thing. I’ve seen him drive the van that has your name on it, and of course, again, looking if we use the film as an example, he was there and he just looked so positive and smiling and supportive and full of love in all of this. Well, okay. I actually follow you on Instagram, so I see the two of you. That’s probably how I see him the most. I’m just curious what this experience was like for him, if there’s anything that you can speak to on his behalf there. And the two of you together, honestly, to go through this experience of campaigning for something that’s a public role together.
Gina Lucrezi (00:56:22): Sure. Well before the decision was made to move forward with it, I told him I would really like to go for this opportunity, I would really like to run for county commissioner. But I asked him, “What do you think or how do you feel about this? Because if I do this, there’s no way that you’re not impacted by it. No matter how much involvement you want to have or don’t want to have, it will impact our lives. How do you feel about this?” He was like, “Well, I’m sure it’ll be a lot, but I’m here for you and I’m there with you. I think it will be great. I fully support you and I’m on board, and we’ll figure out what the needs are and how we can work through it as we go.”
(00:57:06): But I needed to have his buy-in before I could ever do it. Because there’s no way. It wouldn’t be fair to us and our relationship and our life, just if I were to, in my opinion, go forward with that without him wanting it for both of us. But once he was like, “All right, let’s do it.” It’s like, all right, here we go. Yeah, it’s a lot. I’m very lucky because even with Trail Sisters, it’s the same thing. That was something I created, and then eventually he stepped into a little later, but we both have different skill sets, and it’s created a terrific pairing, I think, for some of the things that we do.
(00:57:46): He understands the technology aspect and he can do graphics, and he’s great with operations. Then there’s me and I’m more of a people person, so I’m always involved, if it was a restaurant I’m front of house, he’s back of house. And so with Trail Sisters, he’s been so supportive, and I mean, that’s a women-focused organization, and for him to be like, “Hey, I’m going to work with you. We’re going to do this together.” And I like to believe that it’s something everybody can embrace, but I always think how it must feel for him to be supporting a big women’s focus or big women’s push as a man, and not that obviously you hope everybody loves everybody, everyone wants to help everybody all the way around, but I can’t imagine he was 20, was like, “Hey, I can’t wait to work for a Trail Sisters organization.” You know what I mean?
Adam Williams (00:58:44): Yeah, sure.
Gina Lucrezi (00:58:45): You think of it like that, but he’s been so supportive in everything I’ve done and I couldn’t have found a better partner. So I’m very thankful for everything he’s done and throughout the campaign, I’m not going to lie, we’ve had our spirited conversations, but I think that’s healthy and normal, so it gets tough, but I think at the end of everything, that election night was a weight off of both of our shoulders because I think we both felt as though we couldn’t have done anything more. So wherever the cards were that came out of the pile of the deck, that’s what it was going to be, and we ready to accept whatever it was.
I remember I made a little announcement or speech to the group before the results came in because I thought, well, I really hope it goes my way, but if it doesn’t, I’d like to have this out of the way and thanking everybody and just showing my appreciation for everything beforehand because of, I don’t know how my mind would’ve been functioning afterwards, or if my thank you would’ve come out the same way, if you will.
Adam Williams (00:59:48): That makes sense.
Gina Lucrezi (00:59:49): Yeah, so I wanted everybody to know how much I appreciated them beforehand.
Adam Williams (00:59:53): And not wait until the emotion of whatever kind that might be is maybe overwhelming in a way that you can’t anticipate, or let me find the words now.
Gina Lucrezi (01:00:03): Yes, and we do share, so with my election, it’s the same as the presidential election, and I wanted to go someplace where there wasn’t any TVs or anything so we could just focus on here locally, what’s going on, and that I thought was really special. It was nice just to have a community event there where we could just focus on, hey, what’s going to shake out here? And so that was really important to me too, and-
Adam Williams (01:00:04): That was good thinking.
Gina Lucrezi (01:00:04): Yeah.
Adam Williams (01:00:27): I didn’t think of that when I watched the film, but that makes a lot of sense.
Gina Lucrezi (01:00:28): Yeah, yeah, what’s important to me is here and being able to get involved here and do what I can for this community, and I was like, yeah, I don’t want to go somewhere where everybody might be focused on everything else. It doesn’t matter which way it goes for whoever’s listening, that’s fine. But for me, it was really important just to have local community-based thing. And the election results come in fairly quickly here locally. I mean, presidential stuff can take a long time traditionally, so I knew we’d have the results fairly early, and if people wanted to go on to do other things, they would have the opportunity. So there was all kinds of different emotions that night, obviously, but I was just, I’m like, “Here we go.” Around 7:30 I think is when we get the first drop that would come in and you’re just kind of biting your lip the whole time, and then we’re all refreshing our phones to see what the state site says, and we saw the results, we could exhale and it went my way.
(01:01:36): And then you wait for other drops because when the polls close up here in BV, you still have, was it seven o’clock? Then they still have to drive all those ballots down to… I’m sorry, yeah, all the ballots down to the county in Salida, there’s the county building, and then they have to process them. So there’s going to be another update to the results after that. But you’re just kind of wondering what else is left in the universe? How much came in from the last pickup to when the polls close?
(01:02:06): So usually that first announcement of results is the largest, so unless it’s really close in the standings, you have a good idea of where you stand, and so that’s where the exhale kind of came early on at that one. But I really appreciated the race with everybody, though, there’s great candidates and it was really nice getting to know the people I was running against and their thoughts and what was important to them. As a county commissioner, we’re here to, we work for everybody. We don’t work for one group or the other, one person. We’re here to help everybody of this county. And so I think hearing everybody’s voices and their needs and their visions, that’s all important to me. So I look forward to that opportunity.
Adam Williams (01:02:47): This documentary, this film that I referred to is called The Candidate, and so it followed you along this process of running for county commissioner, and I’m really curious, I love to watch documentaries, actually trail running, I watch a lot of those. I watch all kinds of them, and I’m always wondering, what is it like to be that person, the regular citizen? We’re not talking about a Hollywood actor that’s used to scripted time in front of the camera. What’s it like to have a camera, I don’t know if it’s a crew or one person that was with you, just getting used to the idea that there’s an observer here, there’s this camera capturing it, and I’m going about my life, I’m not performing, I’m not… What does it feel like to have that going on however much of the time it was?
Gina Lucrezi (01:03:32): Yeah, it was a super cool opportunity. It’s a friend of mine, Matt Trapp. I’ve known him for years in the trail run space and the running business, and we’re friends. He’s following along with what I’ve been doing within my life and here at BV and now at the county. He’s like, “Hey, I would love to, I want to bring back short stories.” And this was more, the film’s for anybody, but the tie with the trail running background was really important to him and kind of displaying that, especially for the trail run audience that, hey, there’s people doing unique things outside of just running, if you will.
(01:04:07): So he’s like, “I would love to capture a little bit of your year and the campaign, and it doesn’t matter how it ends up, it’s just showing what else you do and how important that can be for people in terms of what else might you be contributing to your community or how else can you get involved or just to inspire people.” And so anyhow, and so it was all pro bono work. He just did because he wanted to, which was very nice of him. Putting films together is not cheap, and so he came out a few times and would follow along, and to answer your question about what it felt like, there’s times it’s like, all right, this is super exciting. And there’s times I’m like, “Oh gosh, did I just say something stupid?”
(01:04:49): You just think about seeing, I got to see a first edit, and I was like, “Oh gosh.” The first time we sat down outside and kind of went through the interview process where I’m sitting in the chair and kind of just sharing a little bit, it’s like, that was really early on. And I’m like, oh, man. Probably would’ve had more to say on that now because I’ve learned more. Like anything, you learn more as you go. So some of the things, I’m, “Oh gosh, I sound so silly there.”
(01:05:17): So you think about that throughout the process, but you just be yourself. And I’m not from a background. I don’t have a unique upbringing, so I kind of think I’m a normal person. My dad was a teacher, my mom was a nurse. I did grow up in Pennsylvania, so I’m not from Colorado originally. I’ve lived here since about 2008, but I actually come from a blue collar slate quarrying area/region, which kind of mimics a little bit of the mining history out here and tons of farming back home. Granted lots smaller acreage, but it’s same thing back there.
(01:05:53): So there’s a lot of things that kind of fit in place for me of relatability to being out here, but I didn’t come from a background that was destined to, oh, I want to go into politics when I get older. I kind of found it through just wanting to get involved and help out and help with progress and I don’t know, give back to the community that I love so much. For me, that’s where it ties to Trail Sisters because I did that because I wanted to take care of a community that I cared for so much. What else could I do besides talking about it? What action item could I take to make a difference?
(01:06:30): And then that’s where I jumped to the trustee and I was like, well, I love BV. What else can I do here? How can I make an impact for my local community? And I was able to get on the board of trustees and then it kind of, what else can I do for the county? It just kind of escalated to a bigger grouping, but it comes down to the core of just caring for, I think the things that are most important to me, and it’s in my running group, and it’s my neighbors, my community that I live here with in Chaffee County, so.
Adam Williams (01:07:00): You mentioned your parents, and I wonder if they, or maybe some others, basically who or what do you feel like maybe instilled in you this confidence we’ve talked about, the belief that you could accomplish so many things and contribute to community in so many ways.
Gina Lucrezi (01:07:19): That’s a good one.
Adam Williams (01:07:20): I look at you and I see somebody who is dynamic, very busy, very energetic, very accomplished across a number of things.
Gina Lucrezi (01:07:32): I can tell you… I’m going to collect my thoughts. Right now the ADD is going all over. So I would say the confidence has probably come through from… and I’m not confident in everything. There’s certain things I feel much more, well, confident.
Adam Williams (01:07:50): Well, I believe you are human.
Gina Lucrezi (01:07:51): Right, right, right. So not everything do I feel great with, but it’s come from a variety of things. But I remember when I was younger, a little kid I guess, I don’t know how old, but young enough, probably grade school, there must’ve been an opportunity or something, and I remember I was too shy to say, “Oh, I want to do that,” or “How do I do that? Can I get involved?” I don’t even remember what it was, but I remember going home and telling my mom and my dad like, “Oh, this happened.” And them saying, “Oh, well, you got to speak up. Next time if you want it, you have to go after it.” And it wasn’t necessarily something that they were pushing to be like, “Oh, this is confidence.” But it was just saying it without saying it, I guess. It was like, yeah, you have to be confident enough to just put yourself out there and reach for whatever it was that I wanted.
(01:08:41): And I have always thought about that. I’m like, well, if I want something, I just better go for it. I’ll figure out the rest along the way, but if I don’t put myself out there, I won’t get there. And I think I’ve just through that process, have slowly picked the, I don’t know, little pieces here and there to help bolster some version of confidence. And again, there’s some things I feel great in, and other areas I’m like, oh gosh, I feel like a leaf getting blown around on a tree, just all over the place.
(01:09:07): So I’d say my parents really helped. And then teachers and then just friends throughout the running industry that I’ve run with for years, just surrounding myself, hopefully… well, it seems to be with the right folks that have helped grow that for me and helped me believe in me. And I mean, my husband is always, he’s a big proponent of that. There’s times where he’d be like, “Oh, get your head on straight. Put your big girl pants on and get out there and go do it.” And I’m like, “He’s right. What am I worried about? I can do this.” So it’s not any one specific thing, but I do remember the moment when somebody told me that if I want something, I need to go after it. And so that came from a younger age, and I never looked back with not asking or not standing up for what it was.
Adam Williams (01:09:51): You mentioned ADD. I feel like sometimes people will say something like that as sort of a quippy, jokey, “oh, my brain is scattered right now,” but they’re not necessarily referring to that actually being part of their lives. But you are. That is part of your life.
Gina Lucrezi (01:10:06): Yes.
Adam Williams (01:10:07): You I think had a diagnosis for ADD, ADHD?
Gina Lucrezi (01:10:11): Yeah, ADHD.
Adam Williams (01:10:15): Did the name shift at some point? I feel like ADHD is more what it’s referred to now. Is it the same thing?
Gina Lucrezi (01:10:21): I think it’s the same thing, yeah.
Adam Williams (01:10:23): So you did receive that diagnosis when you were how old?
Gina Lucrezi (01:10:27): I believe it was third grade, I think is when I… Yeah. I remember my mom always being like, “This kid’s got a lot of energy, and the focus is all over the place.” I think it was either second or third grade when-
Adam Williams (01:10:43): Pretty young, it sounds like.
Gina Lucrezi (01:10:44): Yeah, yeah. I remember going to, I don’t know, it was a doctor’s office and I felt like a Frankenstein thing, and this is, I don’t know what they do now, so this might sound bananas, but I remember they put little things in my head and they just told me to-
Adam Williams (01:10:59): Like electrode type things?
Gina Lucrezi (01:11:00): Yeah, something like that. And I remember just sleeping or taking a break or just rest here. And then they came back in and yeah, I know. Long time ago so I don’t know what they do now, but I remember that. And yeah, and then whatever results came back, I just remember my parents saying, “Well, it looks like you have ADHD.” So I mean, like I said, it was a long time ago, but I didn’t quite understand what anything meant. I just knew that, oh, I was going to probably take medication or a pill to help keep me more calm and focused is I think the best way to put it from what I understood as a small child, one in the morning before school, and then I’d visit the school nurse at lunchtime to take the second one.
(01:11:48): So then I went, I think it was 10th or 11th grade when I decided I was not going to take anymore medication for ADHD, but I’d taken it through that timeframe. I think it was Ritalin was what they had way back when. And then I think they finally made a better medication, which was Adderall, which was better because man, ritalin would make my stomach feel horrible. Anyway, probably more than you need to know, but.
Adam Williams (01:12:18): Well, as you know, because I’ve mentioned before now that this hits a little closer to home for me because we are going through this process as a family, with me as a parent to a son who we are having assessment, and there seems to be a lot of challenge for him in what he’s experiencing. And what I have learned, I think a lot of people think of ADHD, if they have no relationship to it, they think high energy, won’t stay seated, bouncing off the walls, just hyperactive.
(01:12:51): But what I am learning is that there’s a lot more involved in it than that, and that can involve family dynamics, it can involve struggles with self-esteem, with school performance, with all kinds of things in life. And so I’m curious what you remember of your experience, maybe more broadly than just the idea that you had a lot of energy, because this is something that, well, you’ve had a lot of years now to learn how to work with and what that experience maybe was for you as a child and then as an adult, and maybe what you’ve learned and can help shine light on for those of us who are unaware or still learning, what does it mean to have ADHD be part of your life?
Gina Lucrezi (01:13:34): So let’s see here. As a kid, I didn’t understand it and thought it was a hindrance or it was, I want to say upsetting or… I don’t want to say it hurt my self-esteem, but it made me feel like I wasn’t like everybody else. And kids could be mean. I remember getting made fun of her having to take a pill at the nurse’s office at lunch or something, but you let that stuff roll off. I remember the thing that I had to work on the most was just centering myself and focusing, and I knew I had to do double the work to get to the same spot somebody else that didn’t deal with that. So hard work for me was ingrained from early on, and moving, taking 10 beats forward.
(01:14:22): I think that’s one of the things that has gotten me to where I am today, because I will outwork anybody. I understand that better than anything else. It doesn’t matter how smart you are or whatever you’ve got, if you’re not willing to work for things, it all comes crumbling down at some point. But if you can work hard, you can put yourself in any situation. So if you can embrace being a hard worker, I think it’s one of the strongest things anybody can do. And so for me, having ADHD to focus on my homework or tests or whatever, I had to sit there for longer. I had to work harder to memorize or to understand, but-
Adam Williams (01:15:01): It wasn’t an intellectual thing. It was a matter of being able to focus on the task at hand and on the information in front of you?
Gina Lucrezi (01:15:07): Yes, yes. Yeah, it would be hard to, I’m like, all right, really think about what you’re looking at, digesting the words that you’re reading. For me, it was a lot of, actually, I remember I had to picture quite a bit. I had to see what I was reading. That’s how it worked for me for, depending on who you are, sometimes you need to hear it. We all learn differently. But for me, it was really a visualization, but I had to teach myself how to do that. But so younger, it was a little bit more, it was tricky to embrace and understand.
(01:15:43): But as I’ve gotten older, like I said, I stopped taking any Adderall and things like that around 11th grade because I had slowly started to figure out how to utilize, I call it a superpower, to be honest, which sounds maybe silly, but I understand now how to utilize this, how to focus on what it is, and I can be very productive in what it is that I’m working on if I can harness that energy and put it into that one thing, mixed with the hard work that goes along with it, I feel like I can be unstoppable.
(01:16:13): And somebody might say, “Okay, there’s that confidence and ego right there.” But I mean, I’ve done quite a bit utilizing that strategy and it’s paid off. It doesn’t always work out, sure, but I think sometimes ADHD gets a bad rap because of, oh, kids bouncing on their seat, yada, yada. And I understand that, but it takes anybody a little while no matter what it might be that you’re dealing with. And everybody’s dealing with something. Some people have depression or anxiety or everybody’s got something.
And I think when you are trying to figure out what it is and how it works, it’s really tricky. But once you understand how to mitigate it, you are in control and you can be empowered on how to deal with it. And so for me, it’s funny, those kids that kind of maybe laughed at me as a small kid and having to take this pill at lunch, I’ve talked to them way since as an adult, and they’re like, “God, we wish we had ADHD. We wish we had that energy and the ability to focus.” And I always thought that was kind of funny.
(01:17:19): But yeah, I get sad hearing stories where people get picked on for things like that and you’re like, aw. And it hurts my heart when you see those kids feel like, oh, there’s something wrong with them, or that’s what they believe, I’m like, oh, I just want to give them a hug and say, “No, you got the superpower my friend. You’ll learn how to harness it and utilize it, but there’s so much benefit that can come from it once you understand what it is that you have, that you can turn it into great things.” That’s my mentality on it. But yeah, it takes that trial and error and figuring it out but you can get there.
Adam Williams (01:17:52): I want to circle back to wrap this up.
Gina Lucrezi (01:17:54): Sure.
Adam Williams (01:17:54): Trail Sisters is where we started. So much between the running Trail Sisters, your public service, all of these things, there’s so much that is in common across all of that. And so what I want to ask is, what is it that brings you joy, maybe even pride, about where you have come to in your life so far. That can be specific to Trail Sisters or beyond?
Gina Lucrezi (01:18:19): That’s a great question. I mean, this might sound dorky, but I’m rolling with it. We’re only on this planet for who knows how long. And as far as I know, we have this one life to live. And I just appreciate the opportunity to be able to, I don’t know, help people in whichever way I can so they enjoy their life the best they can. That makes me happy.
(01:18:41): And it’s something I’ve learned more about myself as I’ve gotten older and if I have the… I don’t feel like it’s hard for me to go out there and try to do things that I think are beneficial for a lot of people. And it makes me happy to do that, and I hope it brings more joy to their life. And so through Trail Sisters and everything else, it’s just, I don’t know. I enjoy helping and trying to create a better situation for folks while they’re here. And I don’t know, I think it’s simple, maybe sounding silly, but that’s what I guess fuels me and keeps me going every day, is what else can I do to create a good situation for folks that we all have a great life? Well, we’re here with everybody, so yeah.
Adam Williams (01:19:23): Thank you for your time and for all this sharing, Gina.
Gina Lucrezi (01:19:25): Sure thing. Thank you. This has been an honor and a great opportunity, so thank you.
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Adam Williams (01:19:33): Thanks for listening to the We Are Chaffee Podcast. You can learn more about this episode and others in the show notes at wearechaffeepod.com and on Instagram, @wearechaffeepod.
I invite you to rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. I also welcome you telling others about the We Are Chaffee Podcast. Help us to keep growing community and connection through conversation.
(01:19:54): The We Are Chaffee Podcast is supported by Chaffee County Public Health. Thank you to Andrea Carlstrom, Director of Chaffee County Public Health and Environment, and to Lisa Martin, Community Advocacy Coordinator for the larger We Are Chaffee storytelling initiative.
Once again, I’m Adam Williams, host, producer and photographer for the We Are Chaffee podcast. If you have comments or know someone in Chaffee County, Colorado who I should consider talking with on the podcast, you can email me at adam@wearechaffeepod.com.
Until the next episode, as we say at We Are Chaffee, “share stories, make change.”
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