This story was reported for San Diego News Network on July 27, 2009.
Some people create their dreams at a young age. A kindergartner may hope to become an astronaut, a college kid may hope to score a stellar job the moment he graduates, and a young professional may pray to get the to-die-for-promotion before she hits 35.
At 58 though, Cammy Wesson-Cohen dreamed of being a marathon runner. Seven years have passed and at 65 she has achieved her dream with grace.
What’s behind her drive? It’s simple. Wesson-Cohen has one mantra: Be grateful for every day you have.
Wesson-Cohen’s dream rose in 2002 when she saw friends younger than her run the Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon.
“I looked at all the different shapes and sizes of people that run,” Wesson-Cohen said. “I said, ‘Gosh if they can do it, so can I’.”
Wesson-Cohen said she then got the book, The Non-Runners Marathon Training Guide and began to train for the next year.
But Wesson-Cohen’s story of staying fit goes far beyond.
The Rancho Bernardo resident is a Coronado native, and she said growing up she was always an active person. She said her family would often go to the beach, play tennis, take dance classes and would walk everywhere rather than drive.
“We were real active young people,” Wesson-Cohen said. “I’ve always needed to get out and do something whether it was walking, hiking or tennis.”
As Wesson-Cohen got older though, other tasks became priorities. The Coronado High School student graduated in 1962, married her husband — an Air Force officer — and began teaching kindergarten and first grade classes. In 1982, she retired from her teaching and traveled to Asia with her husband for two years. Upon returning to San Diego, she acquired her real estate license and sold homes for 10 years. After, she began working for finance guru Suze Orman and has since sold long-term care insurance.
And, exercise just kind of took the back-burner.
“I would sit around reading books for my book club and I walked the dog,” Wesson-Cohen said.
After watching the R ‘n’ R marathon, Wesson-Cohen learned that her chiropractor sponsored a local running club: San Diego Striders. She decided to join, running book in hand and the rest, well, it was more than a piece of cake, she learned.
Wesson-Cohen said the most vital message she got from the start of her journey, was to realize it was OK to walk if she needed to. However, she had to really push herself to run as much as possible.
“You need to understand, the first big lesson to know is that it’s OK to walk part of it,” Wesson-Cohen said. “Once I understood that, it was OK.”
Another big lesson Wesson-Cohen had to learn was that the only person she was competing with during a race, was herself and that age was irrelevent.
“For some reason that never bothered me, I just knew it was going to take me longer and I wasn’t going to compete with the fast guys,” Wesson-Cohen said. “The main thing was just to complete it [a marathon].”
Wesson-Cohen said she’d gradually piled up on the miles, beginning with a low three-to four-mile-run and increasing it as weeks went by. She trained four times a week and would take spin classes to increase her endurance. But, she said, she found her real guidance through her Striders’ coach Lee Ann Yarbor. Wesson-Cohen had the opportunity to work with Yarbor one-on-one prior to the 2008 Carlsbad Marathon, where Yarbor planned personalized-running plans for Wesson-Cohen.
“People can train hard or can train gently with Lee Ann, however they want to do it,” she said.
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Ironically though, Yarbor sees Wesson- Cohen as the real inspiration.
“She’s an inspiration to me,” Yarbor said. “Hopefully when I’m 65, I’ll still be a runner like her because distance running is really short-aged.”
Yarbor described Wesson-Cohen as a smart runner, aware of limitations and her capabilities.
Since seeing the R ‘n’ R marathon for the first time, Wesson-Cohen has nailed down two marathons with an average time of five-and-a-half hours and several half-marathons, at a time a little over two hours (her goal is to reach two hours). She even brags about participating in one half-marathon where runners receive a glass of champagne and chocolate after the run, a real reason to run (See Jane Run Half). She has also raised more than $2,500 through her marathons for two charities: The Prasad Project and Greg Mortenson’s Central Asia Institute.
When it’s not marathon season, Wesson-Cohen said she started to feel a lot healthier.
“I have greater energy and my pants fit better,” she said. “And, I sleep better.”
Wesson-Cohen isn’t going to stop running anytime soon. In fact, she’s currently training for the half marathon in Amsterdam but has plans to run the Marathon du Médoc in France where participants run through the Burgundy wine area, and the Venice, Italy marathon.
“I’m not 24 and I know I need to be patient with what I can do,” Wesson-Cohen said. “But, I think if I can do it, so can you.”
* Hoa Quach is a member of the San Diego Striders and sees Wesson-Cohen pass by her during every run. She’s the political editor for the San Diego News Network.