Photo coming soon!

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I went to a small school in West Virginia at a time when they didn’t offer women’s sports programs, so although I was full of energy, I wasn’t afforded an opportunity to participate in organized sports at all.  After high school I got married and had two children.  At the age of 36 I decided to go back to college.  Keeping house, going to school, raising kids, and working part time was hard, so I started running a little just for stress relief.  I was only getting in about a mile a day and I continued this for years. 

 

Once in the work force I met a friend that was a runner.  He talked to me about all the races he had done.  This inspired me to give it a try.  I increased my runs from 1 mile to three, then eight, then ten.  I entered my first 5-K and was scared to death that I’d finish last, but I came in 3rd..... and was hooked on running and racing for the rest of my life. 

 

I ran my first marathon in Richmond, VA in 1998 and missed qualifying for Boston by 5 minutes.  I was determined that would not happen again.  To date (March 2004) I have run 5 other marathons (two of these in Boston) and have qualified to go back every time.  My PR was in Chicago October, 2003 at 3:51:17.  I’m planning on running New York in 2004.

 

I have recently started mentoring a few women and my daughter-in-law (Karen P, a new member of Bedford WIM) in running, and we are all signed up for the Monument Ave. 10-K in Richmond, VA on March 27, 2004.  I’m more excited for them than myself.  I’m hoping to start a web site like the Bedford Women In Motion in the New Kent, VA area soon.  I wish I had known Sabrina.  She was such an inspiration to so many.  I’d like to do what I can to spread her dream to my area.

 

I’m 57 years old, I graduated from Randolph Macon Woman’s College the same year my son graduated from high school, and I’m winning awards in most of the races I run.  I never will accept the excuse from anyone that “I’m too old”.  YOU GO GIRLS!