If there was one race that Tiffany Verbica wanted to win this year it was the Henry Coe 10K. She was determined to make her family proud.
On June 14, the Santa Cruz runner did just that and completed the course in 46:14 to become the No. 1 overall female runner. She was met by her beaming husband, Peter, after the race who just happens to be the great-grandson of Coe.
“It was very special to me because I was the first one in the family to run it,” Tiffany said. “It’s a beautiful run. It’s beautiful to be in that park. I wanted to make my husband proud and so it was a very special race to be able to run and win and to most importantly support the park.”
It was just two years ago that Tiffany had thought running wasn’t in the cards for her. She had done it all her life, running throughout college before knee pain forced her to stop. She had taken a 15-year hiatus but her company, nonprofit insurance agency Alliance Member Services, inspired her to give it another shot. She ran the AMS Annual 10K and won it—easily. From that, Tiffany the Renaissance runner was born.
“I ran that race and then a few more and I’ve pretty much placed in almost every race I’ve run since then,” she said. “I kind of feel like a Renaissance runner in that I never thought I would run again and here I am in my 30s competing with other 20 year olds and teens and competing very well in races.”
Tiffany continues to be successful in her races, most recently finishing as the fifth overall female and second in her division in Santa Cruz Firecracker 10K on July 4. While her knee pain still persists, Tiffany says she’s able to continue racing thanks to a unique training regimen: Using an elliptical machine with, at most, one light run a week.
Tiffany now runs about six races a year, all of which support nonprofits and important causes. The Henry Coe run supports the park and her next race, the 42nd Annual Wharf to Wharf Race on July 27, funds academic scholarships. Around 15,000 people run the course that takes participants from Santa Cruz to Capitola and Tiffany says she has no expectations about her time or where she’ll finish.
While she continually places among the top finishers in her races, it’s not the success that drives her. Instead, Tiffany said that with stride she’s thinking about the people and causes she’s running for and that’s what fuels her to reach the finish line.
“I’m really proud of the company I work for because it’s a nonprofit and most of the races that I run support other nonprofits and great causes,” she said. “That nonprofit aspect has been very important to me.”
