Future Sis-In-Law Kicks Butt in the Tucson Marathon!!

My future sis-in-law (Christina's Brother's fiancee, Julie) is a seriously kick-ass runner. I usually run the Houston Half-Marathon every year, and I generally come in at about 2 hours and 20 minutes...more or less. That's 13.1 miles for me. Julie crosses the finish line only 30 minutes later...but, she runs the entire 26.2 miles. The woman is FAST. Recently, she ran in the Tuscon Marathon.

Here's an excerpt from the Arizona Daily Star:

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Special to the Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.08.2008

Women's winner Julie Simcik finished first in just her fifth competitive marathon with a time of 2:50:12.

Simcik, 26, said running gives her an escape and she was trying to keep it simple in Sunday's race.

"My goal is to look for the girl in front of me and go get her," she said. "But (today) there was no one in front of me.

"I didn't like the Biosphere run and I couldn't wait to get back on Oracle (Road). Once you're back on Oracle you feel like you're home free." Simcik, who lives in Chandler, Arizona, finished 11th overall. She said she doesn't maintain a specific training regimen to prepare for races. Instead, she just likes to go on long runs.

"I don't do speed workouts. I just try to run every day," she said. "About two months before this marathon I started going on three-hour runs depending on how the weather was."

Second among women runners was Amanda Nilsen from Denver with a time of 2:55:57. It was her first Tucson Marathon.

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Of course, I've got a few things to say about this. WOW. She won the women's division in a friggin' marathon, 5 minutes ahead of her nearest competitor. How absolutely magnificent.

I learned that she beat her previous personal best by around 6 minutes. That's tremendous. WOW, again.

AND...she did it without complicated training schedules, coaches, or specific eating plans. I don't even think she runs with an mp3 player. She just...well...she just runs. She runs because she loves it. She runs because she likes the way it makes her feel. She runs because it helps her to clear her mind and helps her to be a happier person.

Julie, congratulations. You are a huge inspiration. You totally rock!!!

Women's winner Julia Simcik is surprised to find out her time of 2:50:12 from fiancé Doug Prince, center, and friend Jayne Hutchinson.