Flying Pig women’s champ overcame obstacles to win

MONTGOMERY – She runs for a reason. Several, actually.

Amy Robillard won the 2014 Flying Pig Marathon May 3, her first time entering the 26.2-mile race after winning the half marathon in 2011 and 2012.

“I still can’t believe it,” Robillard said the day after the marathon. “It was a amazing, just amazing.”

That Robillard - an assistant cross country coach at Ursuline Academy - ran at all is something of a miracle after she broke her leg in December.

UA cross country head coach Rachel Bea - who won the Flying Pig in 2012 as Robillard was winning the half marathon - said it was a great day for the Lions.

“I finished the half marathon and went back out on the course to find her near the end,” she said. “I was jumping up and down screaming (at the finish line). She just has that kind of inner strength. If she gets her mind set to do something, she gets it done and delivers.

“There were a couple of girls out on the course who were cheering for her. I think it’s really good for our girls to see we’re not just talking the talk. We’re walking the walk. The girls know Amy is a tough coach with tough love. If anything it shows them how they can overcome anything.”

Robillard had more than a broken leg as an obstacle the last few years.

Her then-infant son Jameson - nurses at Children’s Hospital nicknamed him Jamo - needed a bone marrow transplant. Amy and her husband spent the better part of a year in isolation with him as he got the transplant and recovered.

“When you live in a transplant unit, you’re really isolated,” Robillard said. “(Running) was my therapy. I needed that release. I was mentally drained and I need to recharge. I was power-walking through the hospital at 2 a.m.. The security people and others let me know good places to run. They understood it was a big help.”

Jamo, now healthy at age 4, still has to go in for weekly lab work to make sure he’s OK. Amy gives him a Matchbook car after every visit for his bravery in the face of countless needless. He gives her the strength to excel.

“I have no reason to complain,” she said. “I have pulled so much strength from him and from what I saw other families going through. Running a marathon hurts, yes. If you’re running a 2:30 marathon or a 4:30 marathon, there’s going to be some pain, but this is nothing. Those kids at Children’s didn’t choose what they’re going through

“I choose to do this. I enjoy doing this. You have to have a love and a passion for it. I struggled at the end. I fell off my pace by 30 seconds the last couple of miles, but it could have been worse. (Winning a marathon) is just who doesn’t fall apart the most.”

Robillard was a swimmer in college at the University of Arizona, but always enjoyed running as part of her dry-land training. When her swimming career ended she said, “I wasn’t ready to be finished competing, so I started running seriously.”

Robillard also helps coach the Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy elementary track team where her daughter Addie runs. The 6-year-old posted a 29:09 time in the March 23 Run for the Lions 5K race at Ursuline in memory of Jordan Hoak, a track and cross country runner who was killed in an auto accident last year.

“I think I might have a mini-me on my hands,” she said. “She gets upset when she can’t get outside and run.”