A Run Down Memory Lane

Today I thought it might be fun to take a run down memory lane…

Except for a baby picture my parents have of me running toward them on my first birthday and a high school yearbook picture that I can’t find, this is the first photograph that I have of me running.

1978 Virginia Tech Intramural 4 x 400 Relay

I ran lots of local road races in the 80’s, but this is the next photo that I have of me running.  My husband and our 1-1/2 year old son cheered me on and my hubby snapped this photo.  Obviously I wasn’t focusing too hard on my race, since I took the time to wave!  Don’t you just love my socks?  🙂

1989 Nike Mother’s Day 8K in D.C.

I ran my first marathon in 1997 in the pouring rain, and despite making a lot of rookie mistakes, I qualified for Boston.  I hadn’t learned to put my crazy hair in a ponytail when I ran yet, either!

1997 Marine Corps Marathon

Just one month after my first marathon, I was crazy enough to run my first (and only) ultra-marathon.  This picture was taken with my running friend Miles (great runner name, huh?) somewhere between miles 18 and 44 on the C&O Canal.  We had just finished singing and doing the hand motions to YMCA when this picture was taken!  When you’re running 50 miles, you have to entertain yourself any way you can!!!

1997 JFK 50-Miler

Despite eating a black bean quesadilla the day before the race (another rookie mistake) and getting sick (don’t ask), I’m cruising down Boyleston Street at a decent pace.  I even managed to cut ten minutes off of my qualifying time!

1998 Boston Marathon

My husband and sons were able to make it from the soccer field in time to see me finish my second Marine Corps Marathon, and for my sons to run the last few hundred yards with me!

1998 Marine Corps Marathon

The 1999 Steamtown Marathon was my PR (Personal Record) marathon.  It was absolutely pouring buckets of rain the entire race!  I think that kept me cool and actually helped!  Oops, another rookie mistake…  I’m looking down at my watch like 99% of marathon runners are in their finish line photos!

1999 Steamtown Marathon

My husband and I joined our friends Miles and Jeani and headed to California for the Big Sur Marathon.  We were so lucky that it was an absolute perfect day… no fog, very little wind… just delightful!  Here I am crossing Bixby Bridge near the half-way point.  The guy behind me needed to have his chest waxed!

2001 Big Sur Marathon

I love this picture because my son had it in his room for years in a frame that said, “I love my Mommy.”  🙂

2002 Marine Corps Marathon

This was my tenth and final Marine Corps Marathon, and I’m posing with some of my happy Cruiser friends.  Three of us qualified for Boston that day!

2009 Marine Corps Marathon

Here’s a happy Deb after my 2010 Boston Marathon.  It was much more difficult for me than my first Boston back in 1998.  In 1998 I laughed in the face of Heartbreak Hill; in 2010 Heartbreak Hill kicked my butt!

2010 Boston Marathon

In the car ride home from Boston, I told my Cruiser friends that I was considering ending my marathon career on a high note with Boston…  Six weeks later I ran the North Face Challenge Marathon.  It was practically in my back yard and just way too convenient to pass up!  It was a trail marathon and very different from anything I’d done before, and I loved it!

2010 North Face Challenge Marathon

In November of 2011 I ran in the Richmond Marathon, and most likely that WAS my last full marathon.  I’ve had a nagging back injury that rears its ugly head if I run more than about 14 miles ever since that day.  I think I’ll keep it to half-marathons, ten-milers and shorter from here on out, but I’ll never say never…

• Questions:
• When did you start running?
• What’s your favorite distance to race?
• Have you ever run in a women’s only race?