Alecia Williams

The Low-Down on A

Alecia Williams has a passion for nearly every sport. A standout 3-sport high school athlete, she earned all-conference honors in volleyball, basketball, and softball, leading her to collegiate softball careers at Peace College and NC State University. At NC State, Alecia discovered running as stress relief, fueling her competitive spirit after winning her age group in her first road race in 1986.

Continuing to run even through pregnancy, Alecia moved to Wilmington in 1997 and was encouraged by her husband, Roger, to enter the TriSpan 10K. She placed 4th overall and 1st in her age group at age 35, sparking a passion for longer races, including half marathons.

In 2006, during a workout at Gold’s Gym, Alecia met trainer Tom Clifford. She became Tom’s first running client, training with him for the Battleship Half Marathon—an event she’d raced annually since 2002. With Tom’s coaching, Alecia won her age group with a personal best. She vividly remembers Tom sharing the inspiring name for his new running group, “Without Limits,” inspired by runner Steve Prefontaine.

Facing typical physical changes in her late 40s, Alecia embraced triathlon training to cross-train and reduce impact. Despite having no swim or cycling background, she excelled quickly, winning her first race, the Diva Dash. Alecia became a consistent podium finisher and qualified for the Age Group National Championships in Sprint and Olympic distances. She also has numerous first-place finishes in Half Iron and a Full Iron distance event. Recently, after recovering from a severe femur injury, she returned to the podium at the White Lake Half Iron and Ironman North Carolina 70.3.

Having concluded a 41-year career in the High-Tech industry, Alecia now dedicates herself to coaching. As a certified USAT Level 1 Coach, she is passionate about helping new runners and triathletes, drawing from her personal experience of successfully transitioning to triathlons later in life.

What She Coaches:

Runners and Triathletes

Qualities She Admires in His Students:

I admire grit, guts, and a “never ever give up” attitude (as Jimmy Valvano would say)!  What many may not know is that I suffered a severe femur break in the 2016 Boston Marathon that required 3 surgeries to repair (i.e. 2 different femoral rods, 7 different screws, a bone grafting procedure, and 15 scars to prove it).  I had to learn to walk again after each surgery, and I’ve never had a greater appreciation for people suffering from impairments.  Unbeknownst to me, one of my running friends saw me in the gym on crutches trying to focus on rehabilitation.  He posted this statement after seeing me, “I’m not as impressed by what someone has ACCOMPLISHED as I am by what they have OVERCOME!”  That statement resonated in my soul, and I’ll have to say it’s what I believe and admire about those people who have had both big and small challenges to overcome.   

I also admire athletes who have a lot to juggle in life.  As a mother and wife with a full-time job as the breadwinner for my family, I understand the challenges of working around life’s demands on an athlete’s time for training.  It truly inspires me to see athletes with grit and determination to put in the work, despite the challenges, to achieve their goals!

What are your favorite events?

I’m partial to the longer distance races like Half and Full Irons.  I like them because of the variety of each sport (swim, bike, and run) but also because of the feeling of pulling off the long distances in each category.  I believe these distances go beyond the physical training required but also are comprised of the mental, nutritional, and hydration aspects of these races, not to mention the planning that goes into transitioning from one sport to the other.  I also love the races that are “team” events.  My first experience in triathlon was as the runner for a team half iron distance race which was so much fun to have specialists in each sport and cheer them on as they started and finished their legs of the race.