Margaret Elizabeth Perry is a senior at University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. While ME had a background in Horse Jumping, she only ran a few miles now and then for fitness. Back in late July she came to me with the idea to run a marathon. 26.2 miles? Was she Crazy? Realistic? In my experience, not too many 21 year olds can follow through by successfully training for and eventually running a 26.2-mile marathon.

With the encouragement from her parents, ME and I worked hands-on in Dallas for only 3 or 4 sessions. The balance of the program was done on paper and followed-up with twice weekly phone check-ins.

ME's strong points were her consistently longer and longer weekly long runs. "The long runs were definitely what made the marathon a success. "They prepared my body and mind so that I was confident in my capability to finish 26.2 miles." Well, this story has a very happy ending. On The morning of Nov 12th Margaret Elizabeth Perry finished The Richmond Marathon in a very respectable first-timer's time of 4 hours and 37 minutes. Her future plans include, "At this point, I would like to run a marathon per year and shorter races along the way. I am excited to continue to use running as a method to keep my mind and body fit." You go girl!