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As a runner, it's easy to get discouraged when one views the physical condition of the American people.

With two-thirds of the population overweight and half of those obese, fitness is only a verbal slogan that's not taken seriously. As long as advertisers cast slim people in TV commercials wolfing down pizza, America seems to have no interest in looking in the mirror to see the true state of affairs.

Then something emerges that offers hope that it's not too late.

Nancy Watters lost her husband and mother within the span of a few weeks four years ago. The stress of the situation brought on a bout of insomnia and weight gain for the sedentary Attleboro resident. She started walking and then two years ago, escalated that to running. Earlier this year, she ran her first road race and has since run four others. Her insomnia has disappeared, she has lost weight, her energy level has increased and as every runner knows, she has a better mental outlook. She is drinking the running Kool-Aid.

If we could project her experience to the rest of the nation, the dire statistics would disappear. The 50-year-old Watters is a shining example of what can be accomplished with some determination and for that, she has been recognized as a 2007 Runner of the Year. Here are the other individuals, who comprise the 2007 Runners of the Year: CHRIS ELGAR (Attleboro) - Coach Elgar ruptured his ACL while playing Ultimate Frisbee with his Canton High School cross country team two years ago. Out of commission for a year, he was been slowly crawling back to form. Last month he finished second in the Billy Kelly 5K, running 17:26. In the 2004 Billy Kelly 5K, which he won in 16:45, an ebullient Elgar took the lead in the first mile and shouted, 'Look likes I'm back!' to the press truck occupants. It's starting to look that way again.

RON FARKASH (Plainville)

- If someone added up the competitive miles that all local runners have logged this year, Farkash would probably top the list. It's not as if he runs multiple races to pile up the miles; he accumulates his in clusters. His milestone feat, among many ultra races this year, was the July Vermont 100 miler, which he finished in under 24 hours.

Honorable mention goes to his wife Lauren, who in addition to pacing her husband for 23 miles in Vermont, also qualified for the Boston Marathon at the Breakers Marathon in October.

KEITH PURRIER (Mansfield)

- Purrier is a fierce competitor as evidenced by his participation in this year's Hockomock Swamp Rat Series where he placed 18th over the year-long 26 race series. Perhaps more significant is his role as the Billy Kelly race director; that's where the running community owes its indebtedness to Purrier. Finishing his 10th year at the helm, he joins Crackerbarrel's Rich Katno, the Attleboro Y's Bob Withers and the Run For Humanity's Jim Whelan as double-digit year local race directors. These are the guys, through their selfless dedication, that keep the sport going.

LARRY OLSEN (King Philip)

- the 1964 King Philip graduate and Norfolk native was inducted into the King Philip Athletics Hall of Fame last month. Olsen has been a dynamo on the roads for decades and has been one of the top age group runners in the country in his 40s, 50s and 60s. Marathon great Bill Rodgers said of Olsen, "I remember many of our races and Larry is a ferocious competitor. He has had a solid edge on me these past 4-5 years and I'm struggling to figure out how I can beat him!"

PAULA BISHOP (Foxboro) - May 15, 2007 will always be a milestone day in her life. A mile into her run that morning, she went into cardiac arrest. Ten minutes further down the road she would have been in the Foxboro State Forest and most likely dead but she went down near the Foxboro fire station during a shift change. Paramedics were on the scene quickly and they brought her back. After a 10 day stay in the hospital, she returned home with a defibrillator implanted in her chest and uncertainty in her psyche. She began walking, then running, and five months later, ran the Tufts 10K. It sounds like fiction but it's all true.

ROGER STEBENNE (North Attleboro) - Once a sub-three hour marathoner and a founding member of the Wampanoag Road Runners, Stebenne went through an extended period, years, of inactivity. During that time he put on a significant amount of weight and lost touch with the running club where he was such an integral part. He's back, having dropped weight, running with a new vigor, competing in a passel of races this year. Another example that there's life after being a couch potato. Stebenne is going back to Boston in April after a 12-year absence. He's taking the under on his 4:38 performance in 1996. Me too. Runners of the Year banquet will be on Jan. 24, details to follow.

Footnotes

The Run 4 New Year's Day, the Waltham race held for the past few years in Waltham, has been canceled; race director Jerry Spar moved out of town and no one stepped up to continue it ... The Chiller Chase, a 5K held in mid-January in Wakefield, R.I., has been canceled ... Congrats to Seekonk's Paula Deblois who qualified for Boston at Portland in October ... There's a new marathon and half marathon coming this spring; the Providence Road Races will debut on Sunday, May 4 in Providence with CVS Downtown 5K race director Charlie Breagey in charge; check out www.rhoderaces.com for the details.

ROB ROSE is a Sun Chronicle correspondent. Send running news to P.O. Box 600, Attleboro, MA, 02703 or via e-mail to lsxplrer@comcast.net