Running for life has two meanings for Vincent Gleason.

It describes both a stalwart commitment to the activity and its benefit to the human spirit. When Gleason created a project to encourage people in the central New York area to cultivate their enthusiasm for running, he encapsulated its goals by naming the project TheRun4Life.org.

Gleason was inspired to start the project when his 3-year-old son, Braeden, was undergoing cranial surgery.

“It made me want to do something rather than just sit back and watch all the time,” Gleason said.

Competitive running had previously been anything but a passion for Gleason. Arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in high school limited his ability. He didn't start running seriously until he trained with his younger sister, Megan Guzewicz, to help her prepare for modified cross-country.

Gleason found in running a way to take control as he confronted hardships in himself and his family. He had recently gotten through struggles with alcohol and gambling. His daughter, Kaylei, required constant care and treatment for a rare kidney disease. Two years ago, his son underwent the cranial surgery and the possibility of brain damage loomed over the operation.

“The little guy gave me a new enlightenment to start running,” Gleason said.

Now Gleason seeks to spread the gospel of the run through his Web site. It features a blog updated daily with accounts of Gleason's latest activities, such as what area trails he runs and for what distances.

The site is dense with information about the central New York running scene as well. Gleason lists upcoming local races and posts results of past ones, along with pictures of nearby trails and track meets in the site's photo album. TheRun4Life.org also includes links to runner's training programs and a guestbook for visitors to sign their names and leave their thoughts on the project's mission.

John Hickey, of Auburn, hadn't run regularly since concluding his cross-country season in high school. After hearing of TheRun4Life.org, he began to adopt Gleason's running regimen as his own.

“I used Vince as motivation to get out there and run every day; if it wasn't for him and the site, I probably wouldn't have started running again,” Hickey said.

Maintaining the site became such a full-time effort for Gleason that he left his job as a manager at Eckerd Drug Store in March. When he first registered the domain name in February, he spent 30 to 45 minutes a night designing and updating it. Today, that time commitment has increased tenfold.

“It's very challenging. I'll spend six or seven hours getting the text box I want,” he said.

Since starting the site, Gleason has seen its visitor traffic swell substantially. He currently receives up to 300 e-mails a day from area runners who find inspiration in TheRun4Life.org or coaches who want to arrange for Gleason to accompany their track or cross-country team on a run. Gleason also prizes the correspondence he receives from parents who use his site as a resource for their running activity.

“My main reason for starting was to try to reach parents like me who hadn't run in a while,” he said.

As he emphatically pursues a life of running, Gleason must also endure the physical consequences. Aside from the soreness and fatigue, he tore a muscle in his right knee when he fell down during a race in Oswego last November, he chronicles all of his running activities in his blog.

But the injury hasn't inhibited Gleason from continuing to run. He recently branched out under the banner of TheRun4Life.org to create two additional runner's programs. The 󈬬 Trails in 60 Days program” encourages the site's visitors to run through a daily itinerary of local trails in Auburn, Ithaca and Syracuse.

“From the Couch to the Finish Line” was started by Gleason with the support of Syracuse marathon runner Kevin Collins. Collins hopes their example will inspire others to start running or find another way to get 15 to 20 minutes of exercise in each day.

“We both want to make a difference in the community in some way,” Collins said.

Under Collins' tutelage, Gleason is preparing to run in the Steve Prefontaine 10K race in Oregon this September. For every place under 200 at which Gleason finishes, he will donate $5 to Alyssa's Run, a Cortland-based race to benefit leukemia research.

“It's great when your work and creativity is doing something directly for someone else, something life-changing,” Collins said.

Gleason is persistent in getting himself ready for the race, even though his knee has yet to return to 100 percent.

“The only challenges are the challenges you give yourself,” Gleason said. “I never thought I would make it two to three weeks with my knee, but Kevin's gotten me far. I told him if I'm injured I'll finish the race by wheelchair.”

TheRun4Life.org itself will soon collect money for charitable causes when it obtains not-for-profit status. Gleason expects the application to be approved by July. At that point, the project will begin contributing to the children's wing of SUNY Upstate Medical Center and the Children's Miracle Network, both of which helped Braeden through his operation.

Gleason hopes to support the charitable functions of TheRun4Life.org by earning his bachelor's degree in human services. He is currently squeezing classes at Empire State College into his schedule. But running will continue to finish first in his life.

Staff writer David Wilcox can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net