Stormie Henley
First Marathon: Dublin Marathon, 2001

Hello all! My name is Stormie Henley and this was my very first marathon. I went to Dublin, Ireland to do it and for the Arthritis Foundation. I had only planned on walking this thing but then realized that I was not going to finish under the eight hours. I was going to finish at around more like the nine to nine and half hour mark so I picked up the pace. Let me tell you that the farthest that I had ever walked was five miles so I was trying to prove something to myself and go for it. I started to pick up the pace and then I started to run and walk and then run some more. My running however wasn’t all that great and it wasn’t the fastest, but it was getting me closer to the finish line faster than the walking was. I was in so much pain and didn’t want to finish but then I thought “this is the farthest you have gone, try to go farther, you can do it!” and then I kept asking God and my dad up in Heaven to get me there in 7hr!