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Jan. 27, 2006 - Runner's World Interview
A Brief Chat with...Hilary Stellingwerff
by Peter Gambaccini

Hilary Stellingwerff, the former Hilary Edmondson, will also be competing in the 1500 for Canada at the Commonwealth Games. Stellingwerff, a former all-American at the University of Wisconsin, has run 4:08.94 for 1500 meters. She was fourth in the mile at Saturday's New Balance Games in 4:34.86; in 2005, she'd been third in the Games in 4:31.91.

Runner's World Daily: How is it that you are residing in the Netherlands now?
Hilary Stellingwerff: My husband is doing a post-doctorate fellowship there is exercise physiology, so we moved there in September. Basically, he's training with me. He ran competitively for Cornell University; now, he's mainly running with me. We're going to be there at least two years. It's in Maastricht. It's great for training. We're really enjoying it. It's a little warmer than Canada, so that's good, too.

RWD: And it's flat.
HS: No actually, it's really hilly there. We're in the hills of Holland. Basically, we run in Belgium to get the hills. We're a kilometer from the border.

RWD: You've been picked for Commonwealth Games?
HS: Yup. They've selected three of us for the 1500. We just have to prove fitness, and the final names will be selected Feb. 18.

RWD: Was this New Balance Games your first race of the winter?
HS: Basically. I did a little bit of a tune-up two weeks ago in Toronto, but it was more like a time trial. So this is the first race of the season. It was hard to know what to do. It was a little bit different from last year in that it went out a bit faster. Only Carmen went with the rabbit. I didn't know if I should make the commitment to go or not, so it was tactics. You don't have much time to think, and by the time you do think, everybody's gone. It's a good experience. It's a fun race to come to. It's a little slower time than last year, but I've been doing a lot of mileage, so it's a little different from where I was at last year.

RWD: What other races do you have coming up?
HS: I'm going to run a race in Stuttgart, Germany in a couple of weeks, 3000, and that's how we qualify for the World Cross Country Championships. That'll be in the 4K. You won't see me in the long run.

RWD: While you're in Holland, what else are you doing besides running?
HS: I do freelance writing. I worked for a communications department in Canada at a university (Guelph) and I still do some work with a professor I used to work with. When my visa comes through, I'm going to start working for a university in the Netherlands, just doing some editing for the website.

RWD: Are you interested in being a writer?
HS: I would love to get into doing sports. I have an interest in that. But it seems the route I've taken has been more into the editing lately. But eventually, if I can get into doing if I can get into doing some writing about running, that could be great.

For full link to Runner's World website and additional interview with Carmen Douma-Hussar, click here>>