USD Magazine, Summer 1999

GOING THE DISTANCE After a respectable 4:45.00 finish in April's Boston Marathon, Kathy James is back running mortal distances. There are more marathons in her future, though. "I just wanted to see what marathons were all about," says James, who hopes to run annually in Boston. "Mentally, it was very stimulating." James started running years ago in an effort to lose weight and stay in shape. She lost nearly 60 pounds, and now runs three to four times a week, watching her endurance build. Twice she ran the Carlsbad (Calif.) 5000, but the environment was nothing like that of the Boston race, which featured 15,000 runners and requires a qualifying time of 3:55 :00 in James' age group (she narrowly missed qualifying but gained entry by run– ning for charity and is working on lowering her time.)

ndful of us in each

do extreme things,"

·nng. "It makes for some

James lost a half-dozen pounds by the end of the marathon, finishing in the middle of the pack - well behind the winning time of 2:23.30 - but far ahead of some younger regulars. She started to feel the effects of the long race on her knees with several miles to go, but other than that, reports no physical problems. The professor often talks about the marathon experience with her nursing students, who at first reacted with disbelief and now think it's "pretty awesome." An action photo of her pinned to a bulletin board in the Hahn School of Nursing attracted some attention, and now James finds herself talking with colleagues who have a similar need to push themselves to their physical limits. "There are a handful of us in each department who do extreme things," says James, smiling. "It makes for some inter– esting conversation."

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