From Chasing the Family Station Wagon to the Quarter Century Club

My eleven siblings and I were raised on a dairy farm in Reedsville, Wisconsin, by awesome, hard-working parents. Quite often instead of us taking the bus home, our Mom or Pa would pick us up from school in our old Ford station wagon, so we could get milking chores started earlier. In 1964 when I was […]
A redheaded Wellesley girl said “Go for it!” The experience was energizing!

I really haven’t been running very long. When I turned 50, in 2005, I started thinking more about my health, and joined a fitness center. I ran on the treadmill, used the elliptical, and regularly went to fitness classes. In 2010, a buddy talked me into running a 5k with him. This was the first […]
Dual realizations on Boylston: “I am almost done” vs. “The finish is a lot further away than I thought”

Note written May 5, 2013: the Boston Marathon was nearly three weeks ago. Usually I try to write a race report within hours of finishing. Because of the bombing at the finishing line many of my post marathon thoughts have been about the families impacted by death and injury that afternoon, as well as the […]
Nothing in my life will ever come close to this marathon!

“So, how was Boston?” I have been asked that question by just about everyone since we got back home from Massachusetts. It only makes sense. I had not run Boston since 2008. Outside of the Marine Corps Marathon and the Walt Disney Marathon, I had done nothing under the current 3:05 qualifying standard. I registered […]
Beauty from ashes. That is what I witnessed in Boston

That’s the first thought that comes to my mind when I reflect on the past weekend. Just. Wow. I ran the Boston Marathon yesterday. My seventh marathon – my second Boston. And yet it felt like a new experience – like nothing else I’ve ever done. I can still hear the cheers. See the faces. […]
God took my two marathon verses, put them into one, and marked them with my Boston Marathon time!

In September 2010, I ran the Fox Cities Marathon, placing 3rd Masters and 18th female. It was my third marathon, but the first I would run after having six children. I ran it in memory of my mother who had passed away a year before. My qualifying time was 3:33:23. My mother’s birthdate was 3-23-33! […]