Date: Fri 08-Mar-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Quick Words:

Courtney-Elf-Feature

Full Text:

Perserverance Pays Off For Courtney Elf

"After a race," said Courtney Elf, "my legs would shake because they hurt so

much and I would get so much pain I would just sit down and cry because I

didn't know what was wrong."

B Y K IM J. H ARMON

Being involved in sports gives an athlete a chance to learn a lot about

competition, camaraderie, accomplishment and failure, but Courtney Elf also

learned a lot about perseverance.

And pain.

For Courtney, now 17 and a senior at Newtown High School, sports was less

about competition and more about pain as she ran with the indoor and outdoor

track teams in her sophomore and junior years.

"I didn't know it in the beginning," said Courtney, the daughter of Linda and

Gary Elf. "I thought I just had bad shin splints. I would do a hard practice

and then I couldn't even walk afterwards. I went through all sophomore year

like that, in pain, and in my junior year, halfway through the outdoor season,

it got so bad my coach (Rick Medve) took me out of the meets because I

couldn't even walk."

Less than a year later, though, with the aid of orthotics in her shoes,

Courtney Elf is an indoor track champion, finishing first in the 800-meter run

at the South-West Conference meet at Staples High School in Westport. Her

2:40.6 finish at the SWCs edged out Esposito of Masuk by nearly one full

second.

"It was a really competitive race for me," she said. "There were a couple

girls ahead of me, then I kind of pulled ahead, and there was this one Masuk

girl was in the front and I didn't know it. In the last 50 meters I passed her

and I wasn't even sure if I passed her because the two of us were sprinting

for the finish."

Playing In Pain

It wasn't until her sophomore year at Newtown High that Courtney discovered

the bones in her feet were misaligned, straining the muscles around her shin

bones. Some pain she experienced during gym glass her freshman year manifested

itself even more during indoor track as a sophomore.

But she tried to ignore it.

"Mr Medve told me to go (to a podiatrist) in my sophomore year," said

Courtney, "and I was, yeah, I'll be all right, and then junior year when he

had to take me out of some of the races, he told me he wouldn't let me run

until I saw a doctor."

Although her problem could ultimately be solved through corrective surgery,

the simplest solution was the use of orthotics - molded inserts she put into

her shoes and sneakers, raised on the side, which helped correct her foot

problems and erase her pain.

"I was scared that the doctor was going to say I couldn't run anymore,"

admitted Courtney, who feels the pain anytime she walks barefoot or in shoes

without the orthotics. "As soon as I started wearing (the orthotics), though,

my problems got so much better."

Before her problem was diagnosed, Courtney had tried tinkering with the way

she was running, trying to straighten up and not put so much pressure on her

legs. Still, after seeing the podiatrist, there was some tinkering to do and

it wasn't easy getting back to running - and running pain free.

"My times were a little but slower when I first started running again," said

Courtney. "I'm not sure if that was just from taking all that time off and

getting out of shape, but toward the end of the (track) season my times got a

lot faster - like 10 seconds or so. I think that was because I was running

without pain and it wasn't holding me back as much."

It wasn't holding her back in the fall of 1995, either, as Courtney ran with

the cross country team for the first time. She started well, placing in the

top half dozen at every meet, but where would Courtney be without a little bit

of adversity? She tailed off at the end of the cross country season as she

developed a bit of asthma from a sinus infection.

"I got really frustrated toward the end of the cross country season," she

said, "because I finally was able to run without pain in my legs and then I

started having breathing problems."

Things were corrected - again - and then it was time for indoor track.

A new pain-free season.

And some newer goals.

"At first I just wanted to break my fastest times from outdoors," said

Courtney. "But then I realized that's a little unrealistic, because outdoors

you're in better shape and being able to run around the track, so what I

wanted to do was get around those times I was getting outdoors so I could

break those times next season. I think I accomplished that."

She not only took first at the SWC meet in the 800-meter run, but she was part

of the sprint medley and 4-by-800 relay teams that took fourth at the CIAC

Class M meet. On top of that, Courtney, with seven other Newtown High runners,

including her sister Shannon, qualified for the National Scholastic Indoor

Track championships this weekend.

Good things for someone who persevered.

"It's worth it, I think," Courtney said. "Just finishing a race, that feeling

of accomplishment, is worth all this that I have to go through."