dr. betty
july 22, 2005
I have long believed that the individuals we meet along the path are placed there for a reason. Be it a smile, a long term relationship or a short visit, a fleeting glimpse—no matter the length or the depth there is something to be learned. Sometimes these chance encounters highlight behaviors we recognize within ourselves and choose to discard and other times we are inspired. Either way, if we choose to listen to the voice within us we learn something.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Betty at a Chirunning workshop in Washington D.C. A tall, very thin African-American woman with a shy, easy smile, Betty had a pull on me. During introductions I learned that she had run 47 marathons on all 7 continents—but needed to go back and rerun the Great Wall because she had stopped to help a friend in trouble and not finished in time! I had the opportunity to run in the group that Betty was in the following morning in Rock Creek Park and then speak a few moments with her after the run. Her genuine spirit was evident, her enthusiasm for life contagious and I wanted to know more about her.
I contacted Dr. Betty a few days later via telephone. We spoke of many things, including her grief at the recent and sudden loss of a dear friend. But what resonated deepest was Betty's unrelenting energy and questing spirit. Dr. Betty Holston Smith has long been a professional in early and middle child education and development, taught school in D.C. and then as an independent training consultant, worked nationally and internationally with a “hands—on” focus. She has lived and worked onsite with the migrant workers, Alaskan natives in Alaska villages, and on Indian reservations because she refused to aid families via a “band–aid” approach, where she was embraced by the families as one of their own. She was at the Pentagon on 9/11 and helped to move 138 children out of the Pentagon Child Development Center , participated in the child psychiatric counseling that followed and then finally acknowledged the effects of the trauma on her own psyche when the physical signs showed up two years later.
Over 35 years ago, when Dr. Betty took up running, she weighed over 200 lbs., smoked and was not in shape enough even to play a game of tag with her 3 year old daughter. She told me she had no long–range plan to lose weight or to get fit, and was not under any pressure other than her desire to change. She explored what she needed to do and proceeded to do so one step at a time. When Betty's hair got in the way of her workouts, she just cut it off. Because as she told me, “I felt beautiful inside and needed to do whatever it took to eliminate all barriers in the way of my health and fitness goals." She is now ranked 9 th runner in her age group for the Washington, DC region, and 8 th in her age group for the international Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Race, and working hard to qualify to run the Boston Marathon in 2006. Four years ago, for her 60 th birthday, Betty ran the Antarctica Marathon, which had to be run on the ship (can you believe 442 laps around the ship) and in the midst of a major storm. After finishing as the only female in the Pyramids Marathon in Egypt in 1995, Betty never forgot the awkward dilemma she faced when having to heed nature's call 5 times during the marathon. Each time in the midst of men in a very conservative culture! True to her style, the seed was planted to do something about this universal issue. So about 8 years later, she designed a unique garment that allows women, (and men) and young children to "stand and go" gracefully without disrobing! Keep an eye out for the “gofly” as it's in the patenting process now.
I have a strong feeling that my path will cross with Dr. Betty's in the future. But, even if not, I have been touched and inspired by a woman who is truly living in the moment and making a difference every step of the way.