Joe Como's weight-loss strategy inspires 2 generations of runners at Norwin

Joe Como looked in the mirror and didn’t like what he saw.

Como, who lives in Irwin, had reached his 40s and, as often happens to people at that age, he had started to retain some unwanted weight. So Como decided to take up running as a way to shed the excess pounds.

The health regimen soon became an obsession. He joined a running group, and, before long, he was running 5Ks, 10Ks and even marathons. He ended up competing in five marathons, including Boston.

“It just happened,” said Como, 70.

What also “just happened” is his dedication to the sport inspired two more generations of his family. His daughter, Sarah, became an accomplished runner at Norwin and in college, and her daughter, Josie, is a promising distance runner at Norwin Middle School.

Sarah (Como) Lenart was a tennis player in her youth, but when her father started running, it piqued her interest. So one day she decided to accompany him on a run, perhaps, Como said, persuaded by the offer of going out to breakfast afterward.

“I really went just for conditioning for tennis and just looking for something to do,” said Lenart, 42. “It was fun to go to each 5K and watch (my) times improve. I think I liked that aspect of running compared with other sports. There’s a lot that’s not in your control (in other sports) as to how things go.”

Added Como: “I never had to push her. She pushed herself. I was always worried she was going to push herself too much.”

Lenart became one of Norwin’s top distance runners. She was the first female from the school to earn a medal at the PIAA meet, and she set the school record in the 3,200 meters in track and field.

She went on to compete at Duquesne, where she was Atlantic 10 Women’s Cross Country Rookie of the Year in 2000. She later competed for two seasons at Pitt.

Lenart kept running after she graduated from college, but, unbeknownst to her, her days of competing weren’t over. Como persuaded her to try a marathon, using the tried-and-true “you’re not getting any younger” line, Lenart said. And if she was going to do a marathon, aim big: shoot for Boston.

So on Sept. 8, Lenart entered the Erie Marathon, which is one of the qualifiers for Boston, and she made the cut with several minutes to spare. She plans to compete in the 2025 Boston Marathon.

Having a daughter follow in his footsteps to the Boston Marathon was a proud moment for Como, but he admitted it wasn’t the highlight of his running endeavors. That came only in the past couple of years, when he, Lenart and Josie ran together in a 5K in Turtle Creek.

Josie Lenart, an eighth grader, had caught the running bug, too. And it was failure, rather than success, that drove her.

“She didn’t get a medal that day,” Como said, “and, boy, that made her mad.”

Josie also is a soccer player, so she decided running also would be a good way to stay conditioned.

“And then I ended up really liking it during track season,” she said.

She said she prefers track to cross country, and her best events are the 800 (she has a personal-best time of 2 minutes, 26 seconds) and the 1,500 (4:58). In May, she won the Westmoreland Area Athletic Directors Association 800 and 1,600 titles and earned AAU All-American in the 1,500.

“I think she’s going to be the better one out of all of us,” Como said.

Added Josie when asked about what she enjoys about running: “I just like the environment … and I liked impressing myself with what I could do.”

Next year, she aspires to make the varsity teams at Norwin for cross country and track and field.

As for Como, he runs only occasionally now, opting for walking instead. (“I’ve got my original body parts, and I’d like to keep them.”) He said running changed his life, and he encourages everyone to give it a try.

“Like I always tell people: Go up to the track, run the straights and walk the curves until you build up your stamina,” he said. “And you’ll know if you like it or not.”