Contributing Writer
During the course of one weekend last February, 12 teachers at Terlingua Central School, all but one of them avowed couch potatoes, elected to run 13.1 miles – all at once. Six drove to Austin to take part in the Austin AT&T Half Marathon while six others, unable for one reason or another to travel, held their own, informal, 13.1-mile run through Big Bend National Park in support of their colleagues.
The logical question, of course, is “Why”?
Explanations vary.
“Marcy Reed,” said third grade teacher Pam Priddy. “It was her idea. She’s the only runner in the bunch and she’s a great organizer.”
While it is true that Reed, a middle school math teacher and distance runner, is by all accounts a superlative motivator, the credit – or blame as the case may be – may actually rest upon Ms. Priddy’s shoulders.
If Martha Stafford is to be believed.
“Pam and I used to go to the Ghost Town porch to have one or two civilized libations on Friday afternoons after work,” said Stafford, who teaches Language Arts in the middle school. “Occasionally other girls from school would come with us and we jokingly referred to our sessions as ‘faculty meetings.’ Last summer during one of those sessions we were talking about how this year we were all going to try to be healthier and Pam said, ‘I just want to do one, healthy, sports-related thing before I turn 50.’ That was it, really. That got the ball rolling.”
“We started with a girls’ hiking day,” said Priddy. “You know, just to get outdoors once a week and enjoy this awesome place we live in. Well, it evolved.”
Enter Marcy Reed, 32 years old and a veteran of two Austin Marathons. The official ‘Terlingua Teachers Turtle Herd’ was off and running – in 30 second intervals.
“We started running for 30 seconds and walking for one minute until we reached two miles,” said Ms. Reed.
“November 13th,” said Ms. Stafford. “We barely made it past the cattle guard that first day.” (Oh, about 80 yards down the school’s driveway) And I barely made that.”
The women’s efforts evolved from those humble beginnings, however, and they were soon a familiar sight, running in groups along Routes 118 and 170 and in the national park itself. Marcy, Pam and Martha were joined by Kassi Williams, Carin Taylor and Jennifer Peña, who would eventually participate in the Austin race, and Dede Granado, Bobbie Jones, Ellen Quigg, Debbie Willoford, Nicole Killingsworth and Noemi Aviles, who would run their race in the park in support of their fellow ‘Turtles’.
“We’d be strung out for quite a distance,” said Priddy. “We just sort of naturally wound up in groups that ran at about the same pace. There has never been any competition among us. Not during training and not during the race itself.”
“We still like each other,” said Peña with a trace of wonder in her voice.
“It was just amazing when we got to the race in Austin,” said Priddy. “I couldn’t believe the number of runners (12,000) and the number of spectators. And there must’ve been 20 bands along the race course. There was just so much to see and to listen to that you just forgot how tired you were and kept running. I kind of felt sorry for the girls running back here at home. When you’re running out there on that road between Panther Junction and Marathon there’s not a soul. All you can hear is your own breath – Uuuuarrrghh!”* (*phonetic approximation)
How was that again?
“Uuuuarrrghh! You know, that sound you make around mile eight where you’re about ready to cough up a lung.”
Oh.
That story perhaps helps to explain Priddy’s award during training. Marcy Reed, ever the motivator, gave out awards during a spaghetti dinner held on the Tuesday prior to the group’s departure for Austin and Priddy received the ‘Most Entertaining on a Run’ award. Let’s hear it for that lung of hers.
Williams received the ‘Best Comeback from a Non-Running Related Setback’ award, having, as new teachers are subject to do, contracted a case of chickenpox prior to the race. “I missed a lot of training,” she told us. “As a result, my hips are still hurting and my toenails are still falling out.
Hey, but you’ve got that award, Kassi. C’mon.
In addition to their Marcy Reed awards, all the Austin runners received Finisher Pins. They are large and quite impressive, but to one of the runners, at least, the pin has proved something of a liability.
“My [students] all thought that I had won something,” said Peña. “They all asked me, ‘What place did you get, Miss?’ When I said 4,991st they all said, ‘Ooh, that’s bad, Miss.’ Hey, I finished, didn’t I? They weren’t impressed.”
All the Austin runners finished, in fact, though their reactions at the finish line were a bit varied. Peña and Williams cried while Priddy and Stafford seemed more focused on the post-race menu.
“There was free beer at the end of the race,” said Priddy with properly reserved enthusiasm.
“And baked potatoes,” said Stafford.
“Bagels and muffins, too,” said Priddy. “But beer is the most important thing.”
“No butter on the potatoes, though,” said Stafford somewhat wistfully.”
Hips, haunches, toenails and the absence of butter notwithstanding, all the women agree that their newfound avocation has made a positive difference in their lives. Stafford claims (claims, mind you) that her sanity has been preserved and Williams says she has definitely increased her ‘badass factor’. Priddy met with her two daughters who came to the race to cheer her on and they plan to run with her in next February’s event, and Quigg says that she feels much healthier, “But I haven’t lost any weight yet.”
Jennifer Peña, on the other hand, has dropped a few crucial pounds and feels pretty darned good about that.
“I could have run the race as a ‘Filly’,” she told us. “Filly is a category. Fillies are women who weigh more than 140 pounds. If I had done that I would’ve actually come in third in my age group (Not too shabby.). But a few months ago I was up at the Starlight Theater and this ol’ rancher looked at me and said, ‘Honey, you’re as pretty as a boot top and built like a quarter horse.’ I kind of looked behind me (She craned her neck to see that part of her that would most accurately be described as a haunch were she indeed a quarter horse) and decided right there and then I wasn’t going to run that race as a Filly.”
The Turtles got quite a bit of support from non-participants during their training as well. First grade teacher Diana Walker and teachers’ aide Isael Rodriguez made shirts for the team and all their students –save Williams’ kindergartners – signed them.
“Rene Baeza signed mine on the back in really big letters,” said Jennifer. “It took me a while to realize why people along the course kept yelling, ‘Good job, Rene!’ as I ran by. I told him he’s now famous in Austin.”
What does the future hold for the Turtle Herd? Well, Peña and Williams are scheduled to run in the Danskin Mini-Triathlon in Austin on June 10th, and Reed has subtley revealed her plans for the entire group.
“We bought Marcy a $100 gift certificate for Amazon.com,” said Priddy. “And do you know what she did with it? She bought each of us a book about how to train for a marathon. That’s just over 26 miles.”
Pam, you’re going to need that other lung.
These women, faculty members at Terlingua Central School, traveled to
Austin for the running of the Austin/AT&T Marathon-Half-Marathon on
February 18. They are (l-r) Martha Stafford, Jennifer Peña, Carin
Taylor, Marcy Reed, Pam Priddy and Kassi Williams. Six others,
who were unable to travel, ran the 13.1-mile distance in Big Bend
National Park in support of their fellow athletes. They were: Dede
Grenado, Bobbie Jones, Ellen Quigg, Debbie Willoford, Nicole
Killingsworth and Noemi Aviles. (Photo by Andy Byrnes)
