Julie Shea is a former American

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

and politician.

Early life

While at Gibbons High School in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, she was the first ''

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runni ...

'' "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1977 Her national record for female high-school mile was unbroken until 2012, when Wesley Frazier beat it.

College career

At her time at

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

lead the cross country team to two national titles, won two individual cross country championships, and won 5 individual Track and Field titles. While in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

she became, in 1980 and 1981, the only female athlete honored with the Anthony J. McKevlin Award noting athlete of the year in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

. (In 1990, the award began to be awarded only to male athletes and a separate award was started to honor women.)NCPrepTrack.com . . . Julie Shea (Cardinal Gibbons HS, Raleigh, NC)
/ref> In 1980, she won the Broderick Award (now the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

) as the nation's best female collegiate track and field athlete and the same award for cross country in 1981. In addition, she was awarded the Broderick Cup, given to the nation's best female collegiate athlete. In 1993 Shea was inducted into the

North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame The North Carolina Museum of History is a history museum located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. It is an affiliate through the Smithsonian Affiliations program. The museum is a part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives ...

and in 2012 she was part of the inaugural class of the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame.

Notable marathoning achievements

* All results regarding marathon, unless stated otherwise

Post college

In the 1990s, Shea was thrice elected to

Raleigh City Council Raleigh City Council is the governing body for the city of Raleigh, the state capital of North Carolina. Raleigh is governed by council-manager government. It is composed of eight members, including the Mayor of Raleigh. Five of the members ar ...

. She currently coaches CoolKidsRun in Raleigh.

References

Raleigh City Council members Track and field athletes from North Carolina Living people North Carolina State University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Women city councillors in North Carolina NC State Wolfpack women's track and field athletes NC State Wolfpack women's cross country runners {{US-athletics-bio-stub