Trilby Henderson right and her son.

If you’re ever traveling through Shadyside, there’s a chance you’ll see Trilby Henderson.

You might see her running along one of the village’s streets. Or perhaps you’ll see her circling the track at Fleming Field.

But no matter where you see her, she’ll be having a good time.

“I feel much better and I enjoy it,” Henderson said of running. “I feel good when I run, and it’s a good stress reliever. It’s kind of my quiet time.”

Henderson is currently preparing to run in the 5K portion of The Ogden Newspapers 20K Classic Run and Walk, slated for Saturday, May 26.

She’s never competed in the Ogden Classic before, but she is looking forward to the challenge.

“It’s a different course, and it will have a lot more people than some of the other races in the valley,” she said. “It should be fun.”

Running is more than a hobby for Henderson. It’s a way of life.

Nearly three years ago, the Shadyside native weighed nearly 250 pounds. But thanks to lots of hard work, Henderson has slimmed down to about 165 pounds.

And she’s not done yet.

“I’d lost about 50 to 60 pounds during that first year and I’ve been losing it slowly since then,” she said.

Henderson’s weight-loss crusade began with daily trips to the Howard Long Wellness Center in Wheeling.

But in March 2004, road racing came into play.

Henderson received a flier detailing the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation’s annual 5K run and 1-mile walk in Pittsburgh.

“That’s how I got into running,” Henderson said. “I had already started losing weight. I’d lost about 50 pounds by then and I thought, ‘I can do this.”’

The UMDF is an organization close to Henderson’s heart. Her son — Luke — died of a mitochondrial disorder at about a week old in 2002.

“It’s a genetic problem,” Henderson explained. “His body wasn’t able to process the nutrients in his bloodstream and turn them into the energy that he needed to function.”

According to the UMDF, about every 15 minutes a child is born who will develop a mitochondrial disease by age 10.

Having never competed in any type of road race, Henderson started training, most of it at Fleming Field.

“It took almost until the week of the race to get to the point where I could run 3 miles,” Henderson remembered. “When I started out I’d run one lap, walk one lap and then run another one.”

All of the hard work paid off. She finished the event in a little more than 36 minutes.

“I was worried I was going to be the last one (to finish) and they were going to have all of the timing stuff taken down,” Henderson said laughing.

“I wasn’t event the last finisher. In fact, I placed in the race because there weren’t that many people in my age group. Even though I was slow, I was the third person in my age group and I got a medal.

“I felt good about that. And I raised like $700 and that made me feel good, too.”

From that point, Henderson started competing in other road races. In November 2004, she raced in the annual Turkey Trot in Wheeling. All told, Henderson said she has competed in about 15 road races.

Her fastest 5K time came at the recent WeBark 5K, an event to benefit the “no-kill animal shelter WeBark Estates.

In 2005, Henderson joined the Ohio Valley Runners’ and Walkers’ Club.

“It’s a good way to meet people,” she said. “They can answer your questions, and the speakers they have are interesting.

“I’ve made a lot of friends there.”

Through her club membership, Henderson started helping with Ogden Classic Friday night activities in 2005. Unable to help last May, Henderson said she’ll be back helping this month.

Henderson has aspirations of someday competing in the 20K run portion of the Ogden Classic. But with a hectic schedule that includes her job teaching special needs preschoolers at Miss Syd’s Nursery School in Shadyside, Henderson said she currently doesn’t have enough time to train for it properly.

In the meantime, Henderson will continue to compete in local road races and continue her weight-loss quest with the help of her husband, Scott, and son, Eli, who sometimes joins his mother in local running events.