My Boston Marathon story is simple. All I had to do was run 26.2 miles. Oh, and be fast! I grew up in the Alabama Children’s Home in Troy. According to statistics and the high school guidance counselor, I was…
My journey as a runner began in 2004, when a group of friends challenged my husband and me to train with them to run a half marathon. Until then, I had logged many miles as a race walker. Since I’m…
I started running to lose baby weight with a 2001 New Year’s resolution. My goal was to lose the last 10 or 20 pounds from my second pregnancy. I initially used running as a tool to see how ‘small’ I…
In October 2007, I had just completed my fourth marathon in Kelowna, British Columbia, in 3:43, which was so close to a BQ I could almost taste it! I didn’t feel great throughout the whole training program, but blamed it…
What can I say about the Boston Marathon? “It lives up to its reputation,” that’s what. This is my second trip, the first being in 2005. After my successful (!), but painful (!), California International Marathon in Sacramento back in…
Eventually we found our place in line at the start. It was kinda funny though. Thanks to my qualifying time of 2:54, my bib number was 1966 – which meant I was actually in both the first wave and the…
My running life began when I joined my high school’s track team in January of 2000. I had never run before and thought I might be a shotput/ discus/ javelin thrower or jumper. After it became clear I lacked any…
In one sense this was 26.2 mile journey. In another it was a three-day weekend. In yet another sense it started in 1994 when I finished my first marathon and I realized that I had never tested my physical limits.…
On Sunday night before THE MARATHON, I set the alarm in the hotel for 5:20 eastern time, got a wake up call, and set the alarm on my BlackBerry. I slept surprisingly well…. But I still woke before five (which…
I began my running program at age 39; I am almost 71 at present. I have competed in almost 1,000 races, and have logged close to 60,000 miles. As a competitive runner, I have participated in races from the Carolinas…
About a month before the marathon, I started to taper down my caffeine intake so I’d have had a caffeine-free diet for the last couple of weeks before the marathon, and on marathon morning, I’d be able to take a…
It’s three days to the Patriots’ Day holiday, or more correctly, Marathon Day. I head down to the convention center to pick up my official number and information packet. There are about 23,000 people signed up to run, but few…