Lisa Chase

AGE: 38
RESIDENCE: Delmar
FAMILY: Husband, Lance; Kids, Addie, 6, and Will, 4
OCCUPATION: Elementary Math Specialist, North Colonie Schools
SPORTS: Running, Rowing

Embracing Opportunities as They Come 

 By Kristen Hislop

Have you ever wondered what it might have been like if you had had someone who saw something in you early on? Did Lisa D’Aniello Chase ever think she would be on the National Team USA lightweight double sculls (rowing) as a U23? Did she ever imagine she would be vying for a Guinness World Record with her kids? As a high schooler the answer would be a resounding no, but she’s done both and more!

As a kid growing up in Rocky Hill, Conn., Lisa was active, cycling around town with her father Joe and playing softball coached by mom Ellen. She was also known to be a rather good runner. As a 7th grader she ran undefeated. After moving to competitive NYS Section 2 athletics and the Niskayuna School District in 9th grade, Lisa continued to run. She made varsity cross-country but says as the race distances got longer, “Significantly more training completely wore me out, physically and mentally. I developed bad shin splints and barely finished the season. It was the first of many signs that my body does not do well with high mileage. That cross-country season turned me off distance running for YEARS. When spring track rolled around, I mainly ran the 400 and was happy with that.” 

Deciding not to run cross-country in the fall, she picked up rowing. As a sophomore she was learning a new sport that needed not only strength and power but also technique. “I did not master the technique easily but had great stamina due to my years of running and I loved being on the water. I continued to row, coached by the late Matt Hopkins, my remaining fall seasons of high school, and by my senior year, while my technique was still pretty weak, my ergometer times were competitive for a lightweight (under 130 pounds) so I started to think that maybe I’d row in college,” she says.

As a senior it was late to be looking for scholarships and collegiate rowing opportunities. Lisa knew she wanted to teach after college, so a strong early education program was her focus. She had a list of schools, but it was a chance presentation by Marist College faculty at a college fair that led her to the Red Foxes. She had continued to run at Niskayuna, primarily under coaches John Sharkey and Mike Peters, who encouraged good performances, but also focused on fun. 

She didn’t consider running in college, but also wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the sport. As a Division I school, the cross-country and track & field team scholarship had been doled out by the time she made her academic decision. Walking on (hitting times in tryouts) was a definite possibility after speaking with the coaches. In hindsight, the break from running might have been better for Lisa. She says of high school runners, “Almost every single one of my running teammates who had been recruited struggled. They either peaked in high school and couldn’t get those times again in college or started out pretty strong as college freshmen but ended up too injured under the heavy training to finish successfully.” 

At Marist, while in the Elementary Ed program, the draw to racing sports was too strong. She had balanced two sports along with advanced placement and honors classes in high school, so why not give it a go in college. She had been on an unofficial visit with the rowing team, which at the time did not offer scholarships. She was invited to row and was excited to be part of the team. “You can build up a strong bond with runners as you sweat through the miles together, but when it comes time to race, you’re going head-to-head – with the exception of relays. I loved rowing, you could build up this incredible bond and then work together as one unit to race. There’s absolutely nothing like it.” says Lisa. To better understand the bond, she suggests reading the book, Boys in the Boat. Lisa and I agree that runners make great rowers because both sports are mentally and physically grueling. She added, “Runners already know how to push themselves – a skill it can take many new athletes years to learn.”  

During her tenure at Marist College, Lisa excelled academically and balanced two sports. Her rowing ergometer and running track times had been competitive by senior year of high school, so the Marist coaches were interested. By junior year of college, she was able to garner scholarship money in both. Balancing two sports wasn’t easy, but Lisa believes it helped keep her mostly injury free and mentally strong in college. She shares, “I recognize that there is so much pressure (now more than ever before) to run fast in high school to win scholarships to good schools, but I wish more coaches (and parents) of teenagers looked at the big picture, which is that these are still young, developing athletes (physically and mentally) and we want to set them up for long-term success in their sport.” Both rowing and running are lifelong sports. Being smart early on can reap big rewards later! 

As her running and rowing improved in college, her rowing coach, Kelly Harris, suggested she apply to a National Team Development camp. She did and was accepted. She rowed for the New York Athletic Club in the summer of 2006 and then moved up and west to train at the Pocock Rowing Center in Seattle, Wash. Lisa tells it better, “I got the opportunity to row for the NYAC, but I had to learn how to scull (rowing with two oars, the only type of rowing available to lightweight women at the elite level) after only ever sweep rowing with one oar in high school and college. The transition to sculling was painful, figuratively and literally. The technique did not come naturally – sculling requires significantly more finesse and hand control. 

"I remember calling home in tears, telling my parents just how bad I was. My dad calmly reminded me that anytime you want to go to the next level, you start at the bottom of that level and must work yourself up. It was a really humbling experience, but by the end of that summer I was a member of two boats that won gold medals at the Canadian Henley regatta, an extremely competitive event for rowers of all ages,” says Lisa. 

"The following summer, I was invited to a more competitive camp at Pocock Rowing Center in Seattle and competed against a dozen other women for a spot in the U23 lightweight double selected by the camp. The top rower, Kristin Hedstrom, easily stood out, and it ended up coming down to me and one other rower for the other spot. I didn’t get it but was so proud to have made it as one of the finalists. Not to mention, I still had one more year of U23 eligibility. I spent the next 12 months – my senior year of college – devoted to the goal of making the 2008 lightweight double. Despite a rib injury, I was selected along with Kristin, who four years later rowed in the London Olympics.” She and Kristin placed 12th at the 2008 Under 23 World Championships after rowing together for just seven weeks,” added Lisa.

Was the Senior National team in her future? She just had one big hurdle to clear. (Side note: Lisa decided in March of her senior year of high school to learn hurdles and try to get to NYS Championships in May in the 400 hurdles – she did it!) “A vicious case of mononucleosis knocked me flat for months,” she laments, “as my college supervisor told me in his caring way, ‘now you see what happens when you burn the candle at both ends.’” Lisa battled mono for most of her graduate year at Marist. Regaining her health became the priority along with starting her career – as an elementary teacher. Just two years later she found herself training for the NYC Marathon with friends from Albany Running Exchange. Around the same time, she got back into rowing. After dating RPI grad student and track & field “thrower,” Lance Chase, she took a break from rowing… to plan a wedding! A return to rowing came in 2018 after having her daughter and not being able to run! A body in motion really does like to remain in motion. 

Last fall, you might have heard that a runner was trying to set a Guinness World Record pushing a jogging stroller on the track with her child. Last Thanksgiving, Lisa came up with the idea of going for the record as she pushed her two kids in the Bethlehem Turkey Trot. She had read about stroller miles and thought if she could push her kids (Addie, 6, and Will, 4) – combining with the stroller for over 130 pounds – for seven-minute miles on a hilly 5K course maybe she could attempt a double-stroller record. A little research revealed that the single-stroller mile record was 5:11, but there was no double-stroller record. 

Guinness set a minimum bar of 12 minutes. Lisa set a goal of a six-minute mile. Coach Dick Vincent jumped at the chance to write workouts and ARE’s Josh Merlis oversaw the timing. Lisa says, “I tried to run at least once per week pushing the kids, and as we got closer, did more workouts on the track with them. I did a trial at the end of April and ran 6:05, so felt that sub-six was within reach. Still, I was surprised to be so far under at the actual event in May, finishing in 5:48.84.” She continued, “This was in large part, I’d say, due to the many runners who showed up to cheer for me (Dick had gotten the word out). I was very touched that people would take time out of their busy day to support me in this wacky goal of mine. I sent all the evidence to Guinness, and they replied saying they will let me know in the next 12 weeks if it was accepted. I sure hope I followed all their rules perfectly because we’re ready to retire the double-stroller after the Route 50 Mile race this month!”

This isn’t the last we will hear of Lisa’s athletic accomplishments. She and her husband Lance hope to coach track & field together at some point. Hopefully sooner rather than later for the benefit of the young athletes in the Capital Region. 

Kristen Hislop (hislopcoaching@gmail.com) is a USA Triathlon and Ironman U coach, and race director for the Delightful Run for Women (formerly Freihofer’s). The Hislop Coaching motto is “Do–Believe–Achieve” because she feels everyone is destined for greatness. She is a proud mother to two boys who run in college and her husband completed his first 70.3 triathlon in 2023.