WASHINGTON — Kay Marie Lavorini's chances of running in the New York City marathon?

Forgetaboutit!

Well, not so fast.

Lavorini, a 1999 Butler High graduate, was one of the more than 100,000 people who applied for a chance to run the 26.2 mile course in the Big Apple.

The odds of getting picked in the random lottery were slim. Only about 40,000 people run the marathon and the majority of the field automatically qualify.

"There are people who apply year after year and never get in," Lavorini said.

But she decided to give it a whirl.

Lavorini just began running competitively a year ago — she was a cheerleader and gymnast at Butler. At the age of 27, there was no way she could meet the qualifying standard for the New York City marathon.

"At my age and skill level, I'd have to run super-humanly fast," she said.

Her only hope was logging on to the marathon's Web site, paying the $11 entry fee and crossing her fingers.

On June 4, during the final night of the Stanley Cup finals, Lavorini checked her bank account and discovered $140 was missing. When she investigated further, she noticed the charge was for the New York City marathon.

She was in on her first try.

"I found out from my bank," Lavorini said. "How crazy is that?

"I was so excited, but my roommate was studying for her LSAT. I wanted to run and jump up and down, but I couldn't."

She's going to do her running on the streets of New York in November.

It still feels surreal to Lavorini.

Then again, simply being about to run a marathon is still mind boggling to her.

Lavorini ran in her only marathon last year inWashington, where she now works as a librarian. She ran a time of four hours, 46 minutes and finished the course with her 22-year-old brother, Joe, at her side.

She remembers little of the experience.

She recalls hitting the wall at the 22 mile mark. She remembers the marines putting the medal around her neck as she finished.Everything else is a blur.

"I was running with a friend of mind and he told me I kept saying, 'This is so hard. This is so hard,'" Lavorini said. "I don't remember saying that."

But running a marathon is hard. It's the ultimate endurance tests.

Lavorini, though, found the physical stress was nothing compared to the mental anguish.

"The one thing I learned right off the bat is that it is 99.9 percent mental," she said. "If you can convince yourself to run the extra mile, you can run the extra mile. Don't get me wrong, there is a physical battle, but if you are able and willing, you can do it."

Lavorini runs every day. Now, in the midst of training for the New York City marathon, she is ramping up her mileage.

During the week she runs six miles a day. On Saturday, she runs 13 miles.

Every now and then Lavorini finds herself amazed that she is able to run those kinds of distances.

"And I hope I never lose that," Lavorini said. "I hope I continue to amaze myself."

Lavorini, who graduated fromPenn State with her undergraduate degree in 2003 and from the University of Pittsburgh with her masters degree the following year, said she plans to run in as many as two marathons a year.

When she heard a rumor that Pittsburgh was bringing back its marathon next year, Lavorini was beside herself with excitement.

"I'm coming back to run in that one," she said.

For now, though, her focus is on New York City.

"Never in a million years when I started this did I think I would be running in the New York City marathon," Lavorini said. "I don't think I can ever stop running."