Marathon mom is off to Beantown

Susan Richmond never ran track or cross country when she was a student at Dexter High School in the 1980s.

In fact, Richmond did no serious running until she had her second child, Luke, five years ago.

But now, at the age of 43, Richmond will be running in the most famous of all marathons, the Boston Marathon.

Richmond and her running partner, Ron Duff, headed to Boston on Friday to prepare for today's 110th annual Boston Marathon.

"I haven't been running long," RIchmond said. "But ever since I got serious, my goal was to run at Boston at least once.

Richmond had never run a full marathon until she ran one last April in St. Louis that serves as a qualifier for the Boston Marathon. Richmond, competing in the 40- to 44-year-old women's division, needed to beat a time of 3 hours, 50 minutes to qualify. She finished in 3:47:30 and was second in her division.

"You better believe that I was keeping close track of the time," said Richmond, who was a tennis player at Dexter. "I didn't want to have to run another one. One marathon a year is enough."

Richmond will be one of the least experienced runners among the 22,000-plus who will be running on Patriots Day in Boston.

When contacted by phone in the week before the event, she said she could not wait.

"The 18 weeks of training is behind me now, and I am just anxious to get going," said Richmond, who will be making the trip with her husband, Ron Richmond, who is a physician. "I'm really not that nervous yet, although once I get there I know that will change."

The only downside to the once-in-a-lifetime event is that the run comes the day after Easter. She was be away from her two children (Luke and Katie, who is 7) for the holiday.

"They are my biggest fans, and I will miss them, but they will be with family Easter," Richmond said.

Richmond said she was going to watch what she eats Sunday, but that does not mean she will not do a little indulging on the holiday.

"Boston has a lot of good restaurants, and I am sure we will have a good meal," she said.

Richmond was keeping an eye on the forecast for the New England area.

"They have run the race when the temperature has been as low as 30 degrees and as high as 80," Richmond said. "The ideal temperature will be somewhere in the 50s. I don't care if it is sunny or cloudy. I just hope it doesn't rain."

She goes into the run with a strategy of sorts.

"I talked to a couple of people who have run it before and they say you have to start slow," Richmond said. "Your adrenaline is running high and you are going downhill a lot early on. But you really have to watch your pace. You start having to go up some big hills around the 18-mile mark."

Richmond, who will be wearing bib No. 15,970, has a goal for herself beyond just finishing the race.

"I want to better my St. Louis time," Richmond said. "I would be very happy to run in the 3:40 range."