‘Twas the night before Boston and all through the Pru,
The rumors were thick in the land of beef stew.
At noon on the morrow one would break the hex,
A runner would run-of the opposite sex.

A girl in the race? The thought troubled Jock’s slumber.
To add insult to injury-she would wear a number.
Jock was sworn by his name-just as firm as a rock,
“Nobody runs-’less they’re wearing a jock.”

Jock scanned all the entries, and medical checks,
Which attested to fitness, but not as to sex.
“Now what’s in a name? I’ll find one that fits her.”
He checked every name, but he missed one-K. Switzer.

A “K” could be a Karl, a Kurt, or a Kim.
This “K” stood for Kathrine, who’s a her, not a him.
So the plot has been hatched, now ’til noon we must wait
For the big confrontation-our sports Watergate.

On the 19th of April at Hopkinton High
The runners were dressed with one watchful eye.
They’d heard ’bout the girl, and read all the reports,
One had to be careful when changing his shorts.

But as the time passed, and the noon hour was nigh,
No runner appeared with a mascara’d eye,
Nor with legs that weren’t hairy, were slender, not bowed,
Yes, a female was rumored-but nobody showed.

Well, the gun it was fired, after all of the fuss,
Jock sighed with relief and mounted the bus.
“Thank God there’s no woman to mess up my race,
Imagine a runner in shorts hemmed with lace.”

But there in the pack with a shape and a curl,
Jock spied Miss K. Switzer and he cried, “It’s a girl!
They’re all right to dance with the Charleston or rumba,
But girls can’t run Boston while wearing a number.”

So he sprang from the bus to collar the phony,
As he leaped to the pavement from the grasp of Will Cloney,
He weaved through the pack like a hound on the hunt,
Now he grasps for her number-no, Jock!-not the front!

Now advancing towards Jock and before he could pull back,
Came a friend of fair Kathy, who was built like a fullback.
They met there at noon on the Marathon course,
The gritty old scot-the Immovable Force.

The damsel was saved, and she sped on her way
The Story’s been told and retold to this day.
And I heard Jock exclaim as she ran out of sight,
“I think I was hit-by a woman’s right.”

Grandma Bea surrounded herself with the people she loved most in her life. If I have learned anything from her, it’s the very Norwegian immigrant idea that our wealth is judged by the love of the people whom with we choose to share our lives. As I walk through my mid 20s, the fog that has been surrounding my life ideals is quickly beginning to clear, revealing my desire to become rich with loving, honest, deep, and genuine relationships.

My Grandfather’s name was Arthur, Art is how I am used to hearing his name. He was a pilot in Alaska and when his plane crashed into the mountains, he died. My mom was 19 years old. Grandma Bea never re-married. I have always assumed that she had one love of her life, and in her heart she grew old with this man.

Devotion is what I think about when I think about marriage. Currently I feel unprepared and idealistic when it comes to such an engagement, and it doesn’t ever feel like a real possibility for my life. The inclusion of a man, one man, by my side from now until I die has always seemed like a distant memory and I’m not certain of its reality.

When the decision is presented to me, if ever, I am certain my answer will be the riskiest and most important one I have ever given… and will ever give.

What’s a runner’s gait and why am I interested?
“The running gait is a unique set of actions and reactions that your foot performs while in motion to support, cushion, and balance your body.” (NB Pronation guide)

By figuring out what how my foot pronates, I can accurately purchase new shoes to help guide my foot in the right direction. This will help with more efficient movement while I run, I’ll be able to tell results through less injury, and potentially faster race times.

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Haruki Murakami is an interesting man. He’s done so much with his life, and it is always surprising to me to hear about his life as a runner. Through this book, he is extremely humble about his running, which works to his advantage in expressing to the reader how important the world of running is to him.

Murakami details why he runs, which isn’t an easy question to answer, and is one which most runners struggle with every day. He talks about running as a way of life, not just something that he does to stay in shape, to be healthy, or to lose weight - although these are all results he enjoys from maintaining a runner’s lifestyle.

He also shows off his storytelling abilities by walking the reader through several races he’s done. Runners always enjoy reading about what other runners go through during training and racing. Murakami’s stories are entertaining, and inspirational.


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My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
A lot of nutrition books seem to fall into two categories: gimmick, or text book. A gimmick: http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Smas… It may work, but it’s not for everyone, however everyone buys it because it has an attractive title. A text book: http://www.amazon.com/Nutritio… It’s got a lot of information, but man… $118 dollars?

“Nutrition for Women” excels beyond the traditional gimmick, or text book parameters for nutritional books. Elizabeth Somer has a rich background as an RN, and she’s used it to gather information that applies not only to women, but everyone involved in a woman’s life. And she does this in a way that is not intimidating, but easy to read, and retain the information.

It’s a great read for anyone looking to get information that will help improve, or augment your eating habits.

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rating: 5 of 5 stars
Inspirational stories about highly motivated and driven runners… and they’re all women. This book is a must read for all women who run, especially if you’re looking for that extra push out the door with your running shoes on. Granted, it wont make you look like the woman on the cover, but it will make you feel like her… and it will make you want to go as fast as she does. Highly recommended.


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rating: 4 of 5 stars
Great book if you want to get technical. It offers some quality training advice, but where the book shines is in its nutrition content. A warning, though… unless you’re a nerd about nutrition for runners/athletes, this is going to be a bit boring. I love learning about the intricate details of what your body needs during certain training cycles, so it worked for me. I’ll probably read it again just to make sure I digest all of it.


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Runner’s World magazine hosts dozens of forum topics on their website (runnersworld.com). Usually, I’ll stroll through the majority of the content, and never really pick up my virtual pen to jot down a comment, or response. Today’s topic, however, hit home for me, “Are you a lifetime runner?” See my comment below.

Topic: The Pack Rules: Are you a lifetime runner?

I’ve been running since I could walk, so I guess that would be about 24 years (give or take a few months… not sure when I first figured out how my legs worked). I’ve been seriously running for about 6 years, competing in everything from the Turkey Trot, to the NYC Marathon.

Recently, I took a 2 month break after running the Nike Women’s Marathon last year. I needed a lot more recovery than I usually give myself, and it was well worth it. I’ll be taking another long break (1 mo.) after the CIM on Dec. 7th.

Running helps me stay grounded. I’ve a busy young professional, I’m single, and I live in a crowded city… so there’s a lot to keep track of. I like the break that running gives me. I get 45-90 minutes every day all to myself. I use the time for a challenge, for meditation, and for clarity. Recently, I noticed that running has left me feeling clean. Not in the literal sense, but more like being cleansed… in heart, lungs, muscles, and bones. It’s a feeling that I’m becoming addicted to.

I grew up running in Alaska. After that I went to school about 20 minutes from the base of Mt. Rainier, WA. And then I moved to the hills in rural Tennessee. I’ve always had a stellar place to run, and it’s never involved city streets, car exhaust, or crowds of tourists. For the past two years I’ve lived in San Francisco, so I’ve had to adapt to running through the city. It was challenging at first, but I’ve found several websites and blogs detailing great running routes around town. I’ve even contributed some of my own routes. The beauty of being a runner is that I can literally do it anywhere… it just takes some strategy every now and then.

Sometimes the moments that challenge us the most, define us.

It’s like life, you’re going to hit hiccups and rough periods, but it’s about how you handle those and come through them.

When you cross that finish line, no matter how slow, no matter how fast - it will change your life forever.

The Greeks set an almost religious significance on competition because they believed that it was through competition that the human race achieved its best. There was no marathon race int he ancient Greek Olympics they had nothing longer than about 3000 meters. the story is that when the Persians under Darius the second were invading Greece they landed on the beach of marathon, and the small Athenian army repelled, them and sent them back to their ships. The legend is that a messenger was then sent from marathon to Athens in order to announce the news, “We’re joyful! we are victorious!” and then collapsed and died.

The marathon could be called the modern man’s Everest.

When you become a marathoner, you go from non-marathoner to marathoner. Then when you qualify for Boston, you go from marathoner to Boston Qualifier.

A number of runners from the Boston Athletic Association and several of their coaches went to the Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, and they were impressed by the marathon. One of the Boston managers came back and said, “why don’t we have a marathon in Boston?” And they decided to have it on the day which celebrates America’s heroic message, which is Paul Revere, and they had it on Patriot’s day. So you have the whole notion of messengers, freedom, heroism. It was an inspired thing to do; Boston therefore, has the longest and the richest history of any marathon in the world.

The Boston is really unique because of its qualifying system. When I first started running Boston I think we had 150 runners in the race. Gradually throught the 1960s the numbers of runners started to grow and by the 70s we were up to 1000, and the officials saw a way to limit the field, and they put on a standard: you had to have run a previous marathon in 4 hours. Then they started cutting it down to 3 1/2 hours, 3 hours. The more they raised the challenge, the more interested runners became in meeting that challenge. Without realizing it, they had made their race much more popular by making it more difficult to get into.