CORONA DEL MAR : Olympian Motivates Elementary Students

Twenty-five years ago, PattiSue Plumer--then a Newport Heights Elementary School first-grader--decided that she wanted to be in the Olympics.

On Thursday, the Palo Alto resident and Olympic runner returned to her childhood turf to launch a two-day schedule of motivational speeches to elementary school students in Newport Beach.

“I had a dream, and I never gave up,” she said to more than 400 students at Harbor View Elementary School. “If you have a dream, you have to keep going.”

Plumer, 30, is this year’s spokeswoman for the 1993 Golden State Bank Spirit Run, the 10th annual 5-K and 10-K run/walk held to raise funds for supplemental art, science, music, computer and physical education programs at Lincoln, Anderson and Harbor View elementary schools.

A Kids’ One Mile/Half Mile Run is also planned.

More than 6,000 people are expected to participate in the eventFeb. 28 at Fashion Island.

Plumer challenged children to run an 8 1/2-minute mile--about twice her own time--and spoke about the importance of setting and keeping goals.

“You have to dream because until you think it, you won’t become it,” she said. “A lot of people will tell you along the way that you can’t do it, but you can’t give up.”

Plumer’s dream was born when she was 6, as a result of her father’s visit to Mexico City to see the 1968 Olympics there.

“I thought I could turn on the TV and see my dad,” she recalled. “I started watching it, and I thought this was the neatest thing I’d ever seen. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I wanted to be there.”

Once you have a dream, the next important step is to train both your mind and body, she said.

“I had two dreams,” said Plumer. “One was to be an Olympic runner. The other was to go to college. A lot of people made fun of me, but you have to train your mind. You can never ever forget that.”

Plumer ran track at Stanford, and by the time she was in her second year was an All-American, ranked as one of the top five women runners in the nation.

It was not until 1988 that she qualified for an Olympiad.

In 1990, she was ranked first in the world in both the 3,000- and 5,000-meter divisions and worked up to 50 hours a week as an attorney.

In 1991, she injured her back during a fall. After missing months of training, she ran in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, placing fifth in the 3,000-meter and 10th in the 1,500-meter runs with a personal best.

“Even though I don’t like the fact that I didn’t win, I’m really happy I went,” she said. “I’m not going to tell you that you have a 100% chance of succeeding, but shoot for the stars.”

Shaina Lemmerman, 10, said Plumer’s speech will encourage her to follow her dream of becoming an actress and to do well in the Spirit Run.

“I think it’s really, really neat that she’s telling kids to have a dream and stick with it,” she said.

This will be the fifth year that the Corona del Mar fourth-grader will participate in the annual race.

“I feel good about helping the schools get money,” she said.

For race information, call the Spirit Run hot line at (714) 640-2203.