better
H
E A
L T H
W o m e n o f S tr e n g th
by KATHLEEN PARRISH
The path to well-being involves making choices that force you
out of your comfort zone and into unfamiliar territory.
E v ery day, life gives y ou a ch o ice: T o let it m ak e y ou less o f w h o you
a re o r to u se it to h e lp y o u flo w er in w ay s th a t you m ig h t n o t have
im ag in ed . T h e la tte r o p tio n is th e p a th o f tru e h e a lth —m en tal,
e m o tio n al, an d p h ysical. T h e se w o m e n w alk ed th a t way.
k a t h v s w i t z e r marathoner
A FTER T W O FAILED M AR R IAG ES,
Kathrine Switzer, the first
woman to officially run the Boston marathon in
1967
, pioneering a distance running
revolution for women, finally met the man of her dreams. There was only one hitch.
He lived in New Zealand, and her career as a runner and T V sports commentator
was in New York.
“I made a real conscious decision to say, ‘I’m going to unconditionally love someone
10,000
miles away,” says Kathrine, author of
M arat hon Woman.
“After being bruised by
two relationships, that was a huge leap for me.” But it was one worth taking In
completely opening her heart, she found happiness, confidence, and a security that had
been missing. The couple now split their time between both countries.
“The more you give away, the more you get back,” says Kathrine, who also won
the women’s division of the
1974
New York Marathon. “It totally freed me. I became
a better person. We recently celebrated our
20
th wedding anniversary. The other
day I looked at him and said, ‘I can’t believe I ’ve been monogamous with
someone for
20
years.’ Then we just shrieked with laughter.”
TH R EE YEARS A G O ,
Peggy Fleming
dropped her then
18
-year-old son, Todd, off at an
ait class near their California home. On a whim,
she decided to stay for a painting lesson. She had
never expressed her creativity on canvas before,
and the idea both excited and terrified her.
“Everyone knew who I was, and I didn’t want
to make a fool of myself,” says Peggy, whose
spectacular gold medal performance in the
1968
Winter Olympics is credited with giving the sport
of figure skating the esteem it holds today. “I had
to take a deep breath and think, ‘I can do this.”’
The other students greeted her warmly, and no
one expected a masterpiece, which eased her
artistic jitters. It wasn’t long before Peggy was
applying the same dedication and passion she
had once exhibited on ice to her art. She recently
finished a painting of her oldest grandson
frolicking in the shimmering Hawaiian surf and
hopes to one day exhibit her works.
“We have to keep exploring who we are,” says
Peggy, who now runs a vineyard with Greg, her
husband of
38
years, in Los Gatos, California. “It
can scare me to death to try something new, but I
love challenging myself. It makes me feel alive.”
Fame and fortune aren’t the ticket
to happiness: Research shows that
close relationships and personal
growth are much more important.
2 5 2 SEPTEMBER 2009
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P H O TO S : (S W ITZER ) ASSO CIA TED PRESS/WIDE W ORLD P H O TO S ,(F LE M IN G ) PRO VIDED BY PEGGY FLEM M ING
