Notable Neighbors

Glendale Man to Finish 50 Marathons in 50 States

A trip to West Virginia Sunday will complete the goal J.D. Frailey has worked toward for years.

J.D. Frailey will never forget mile number 19 of the 1982 St. Louis Marathon. That's when when a "wave of a tingling weirdness” washed over his body. It was his first 26.2-mile race. “I was hoping to be killed by a lightning bolt,” Frailey, 60, of Glendale, said jokingly. Frailey completed the race in 3 hours, 21 minutes, despite taking walks after his body hit the wall. Afterward, he swore he would never run a marathon again. But the runner has broken that promise to himself 49 times. On Sunday, Frailey will travel to Huntington, West Virginia, to finish a goal that he's spent years working toward: run 50 marathons in 50 states. Assuming he completes the 2012 Marshall University Marathon, Frailey, a management consultant and motivational …

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Runners in Kirkwood to Race for Orphans in Haiti

A family run/walk in Kirkwood will help the Haiti Orphan Project build a school in Haiti for orphaned and abandoned children.

Notable Neighbors

The Sisterhood of the Running Shoes

A group of Kirkwood area women meets before dawn three times a week for "therapy" and a 5-mile run.

Downtown Kirkwood is dark and cold at 5:30 a.m. this time of year, but that doesn’t stop a group of women from hitting the streets three times a week for their regular five-mile run. “It’s just so nice to start off your morning with what I consider a group of sisters,” said Deb Tata, 60, of Des Peres. “I’ve lived in a lot of different places and run with a lot of different people but this is a very special group.” Tata is one of about half a dozen area women who have been getting together to run three mornings a week for more than five years. They run year-round, in heat, humidity, cold, rain and even snow. “Except when it’s below 15 or icy,” said Martha McArthur, 48, of Warson Woods. “I can think of maybe three times when we met and went …

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Local Voices: Kirkwood Mom, Son Bond By Hitting The Streets

An effort to reduce "Screen Time" results in "Quality Time" through shared - well, maybe forced - running hobby.

I've written for Patch before about the struggles at our house with the appropriate amount of "Screen Time," especially during summer.  Screen time refers, of course, to the exposure to computer screens, video game screens, handheld game screens, television screens and even movie screens. In an effort to reduce the Screen Time around here, my oldest son (who is about to enter high school in a couple weeks) and I have been hitting the streets running. Yes, literally. I began running just two-and-a-half years ago. A girlfriend suggested I give it a try. She had just taken it on as a new hobby about six months before and was loving it. She and I have always had a healthy competition in these areas, and as a cancer survivor always looking for …

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