LI runner wants other women to follow

Laura Fabrizi will probably think of her father when she runs her first marathon on Sunday. She’ll no doubt remember how her dad, Ed Lavazoli, would tell her how she could do anything she put her mind to. He was the man, after all, who let her enroll in Little League baseball when she was a kid – the only girl on the team – and told her not to listen when others said she couldn’t do something because of her gender.

That was the '80s for you, said Fabrizi, of Lake Grove. And throughout her athletic career – Fabrizi played softball and soccer, too – she had a constant supporter in the father she called her best friend, who died in 2016 of a lung ailment. And on Sunday, she wants to give that same support to other girls, too.

Fabrizi, 47, who up until last year, hadn’t run more than a 5k, will take on the New York City Marathon's 26.2-mile course in an attempt to raise money for a Long Island chapter of 261 Fearless, a worldwide non-profit which seeks to empower women through running clubs, fellowship and education. Fabrizi has been trying to get the club off the ground for a year now, and this weekend will mark its beginning.

“I work in a school,” said Fabrizi, a kindergarten aid, “and I want to influence young girls and show them they’re capable of anything and everything, not just in running, but in life.”

The organization was started by Kathrine Switzer, the trailblazer who in 1967, became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon. In the early miles, the marathon’s director caught sight of Switzer and attempted to rip her bib – No. 261 – off her sweatshirt and kick her out of the race. Switzer kept running, finished in 4 hours, 20 minutes, and opened the door to female distance runners worldwide. Around this time last year, Fabrizi saw Switzer’s story on an ESPN "30 for 30" broadcast – along with the iconic photograph of a young Switzer nearly being run off the course – and it immediately resonated, she said. Fabrizi soon started looking up ways to contribute.

“Her story, the way she persevered,” Fabrizi said when asked what motivated her to take such swift action. “She calls the organization fearless, and that’s (how she was) – a young girl at that age (20 years old) surrounding by men gets her bib almost taken off and still completed a 26.2 marathon.”

And so Fabrizi started running. She also wanted to get healthier, she said. She wanted to do something with her daughter, Analiese, 15, who also runs track and field. And she also wanted to work through some of the grief following her father’s death. As of Friday, Fabrizi has raised over $3,000 of her $5,500 goal through crowdwise.com, a donation website. Her fundraiser can be found by searching her name.

“Laura is being a role model first for her own children, who see her being active, and then for other women on Long Island when they see her leading a healthy and active lifestyle,” said Edith Zuschmann, the CEO of 261 Fearless. "We really want to reach women who have a lot going on in their lives and help them step back, to take an hour a week for themselves. It's not about speed and winning, it's about being active and about being together. But it's also about being a role model.”

Fabrizi said she’s both nervous and excited. Her training schedule is on track, but mostly, she just wants to finish.

“Honestly, it teaches you a lot about yourself,” she said. “You’re in your own mind for however long you’re out there. It’s strength and perseverance. When you don’t give up you realize how strong you are as a person. It’s very freeing with my mind and relieves a lot of stress. After I lost my dad, he was my best friend, he was my everything – it helped me deal with that, through the good thoughts and the bad.”

On Sunday, it will all come to a head, and his memory will encourage her to keep going at least one more time.

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.