The magic of 'three'
Good things come in threes for runner Theresa Pitts.
You may recall my earlier column regarding the Kalispell mom who launched her marathon career at the Governor’s Cup Half Marathon in June in Helena while pushing a triple stroller containing three of her eight children — about 150 pounds of contented kids and their necessities. Pitts not only finished the race, but managed to break the previous Guinness World Record for that particular pursuit.
In July Pitts quickly eclipsed her racing debut — this time at the Missoula Marathon — setting yet another Guinness World Record. Her official time for her first full marathon was 4:25:00. A follow-up story was written that month by Inter Lake reporter Hilary Matheson.
Not wishing to rest on her laurels (or just rest), the marathon mom took on the Billings Marathon in August and ran the half, beating her previous time at the Governor’s Cup by three minutes. This time she ran to raise money for this past summer’s hurricane and local fire victims, asking people to donate $1 for every mile toward those humanitarian relief efforts.
Pitts summed up her 2017 accomplishments this way:
“There must be magic in three. I went out there hoping to help those in need, and surprised myself by breaking my previous record with my three babies by exactly 3 minutes, thereby earning three records in three months!”
About dedicating her run to raising money to help disaster victims, she said, “We don’t need to do something big. We just need to do something. When we are all pitching in and doing our own small part, our efforts add up. And you and I really can make a difference!”
Although Pitts has only been running since 2013, the results of her efforts have added up to a whole lot more than the sum of the parts.
In the beginning her initial goal in running was to pull herself up and out of a depressive slump. Her passion for the sport grew, her skills and stamina improved; and so did her life.
“My purpose is these races is to share my message of hope and inspire someone else to create an awesome ending to their own story,” Pitts said. “I want to express my gratitude to God for his grace and providing opportunities for me to inspire others and use the gifts he has given me in such positive ways, and to my husband and family, friends and community for their incredible support and for cheering me and my little team on … I couldn’t have done it without them!” she said.
“These achievements haven’t been without faith and without a good fight, but they’ve been worth every swing of the sword.”
Keep swinging the sword, Theresa.