Virtual Run for Sherry Arnold – A Mother Runner Lost

Posted on January 31, 2012 Written by 10 Comments

Earlier this month, Sherry Arnold, a 43 year old mother runner from Montana left for an early morning run and never returned home. Her cousin, Beth (from Shut Up and Run), has organized a virtual run in Sherry’s honor. I think it would be so meaningful for as many of us to participate as possible.

If you would like to join the virtual run, visit Shut Up and Run to print out your bib. The date for the virtual run is Saturday, February 11 at 9:00 a.m. MST (11:00 a.m. EST). The race distance is as far and as fast as you want to go that day. If you aren’t up to running, get outside and do something physical in honor of Sherry.

If you do blog and feel up to blogging about your run, please do so and let Beth know. She is sharing the links with Sherry’s family. On Beth’s blog, there is also a link to donate to a fund for Sherry’s children.

Let’s see how many mother runners and non-mother runners we can get out on February 11 to honor something that Sherry  loved to do. Please share this with your running partners, running friends and anyone else who would like to join the virtual run. You can use the icons below this post to share via Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail.

 

 

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Magdalena Lewy-Boulet – Another Inspirational Mother Runner

Posted on December 3, 2011 Written by Leave a Comment

The first time I heard Magdalena Lewy-Boulet’s name was at the Falmouth Road Race this past August. I was standing in my corral behind the elite runners, and I asked my friend (a former co-director of the race) who he thought was going to win the women’s race. He said that he thought Magdalena Lewy-Boulet was going to take first and informed me that she was another mother runner.

Source - Bay Area Track Club (click on image to visit their site)

Fast forward to the end of the race, and Lewy-Boulet did in fact finish in first place in the women’s field. At 38, she was the first female finisher and the first American woman to cross the line. Her time was 36:58 for the 7.1 mile course! She is only the second American woman to win the race in the past 17 years. When you look at her personal records for the 5K, 10K and marathon: 15:14, 31:48, and 2:26, it is unbelievable that four years ago she was unsponsored and paying her own way to the Olympic Marathon Trials!

Lewy-Boulet was born in Poland and became a U.S. citizen on September 11, 2001. In addition to running professionally, Magdalena has also coached the cross country team at her alma mater, University of California- Berkeley. She is under the coaching guidance of legendary distance running coach, Jack Daniels.

I visited Magdalena’s blog on the Bay Area Track Club website and found this wonderful post - Older, Wiser, Stronger, & Faster. In her post, she imparts many words of wisdom that are important to all runners, not just mother runners! That fact that she continues to set new personal records as she ages gives me the inspiration and hope to set new goals for myself. I didn’t start running competitively until recently (I had done very few races in my running career). Watching Magdalena’s progress makes me believe that I can continue to set PRs well into the future.

Have you checked out the Facebook page for the 30 Something Mother Runner yet? Click on the Facebook badge to the right of this post and “Like” the page–you will then get to see my daily posts in your newsfeed! 

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An Inspiring Mother Runner – Wendy Thomas

Posted on November 24, 2011 Written by 5 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving! I thought I would share another inspirational post today–it just seemed fitting on Turkey Day. Hope you enjoy reading about this inspirational mother runner!

I was reading through the Running Times website the other day and came across an article about Wendy Thomas. Wendy is an inspiring 32 year old mother runner who is demonstrating that it’s never too late to start running. Who knows, you might end up making the Olympic Trials! This is exactly what happened to Wendy Thomas, who began running only three years ago!

Wendy started running after having her two kids, doing a couple of “fun runs” throughout the year. There was nothing funny about her 2008 Turkey Trot time though- 18:11 (with no miles logged to train for the race!). With about a thousand more miles and speed workouts, it would still take a miracle for me to get a 5K time like that! After this performance, others began to take notice of her innate running talent. She began training and working out with other runners.

Source - click on image

Thomas was soon working her way towards 60-70 mile weeks and on the hunt for more competition. In 2010, she broke 16:00 for the 5K and placed 11th at this year’s U.S. 10k championship (34:03). She is now training for the U.S. Olympic Trials in January in Houston. She qualified for the trials by running a 1:13:46 at this year’s Philadelphia Rock N’ Roll Half Marathon!

I am keeping my fingers crossed for this 30-something mother runner when she heads to the trials in January. Hopefully she can achieve yet another amazing goal, with her two kids there to cheer her on!

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