Doing Stuff Outdoors-84

Our feature interview is with Holly Johnson, a busy mother of five who started working out and loosing weight in preparation for a half marathon. This is the second part of her story and the following is a written account that appeared in a local paper:

Tears well up in Holly Johnson’s eyes when she looks at the Donald Duck Medal presented to her by the kids and teachers at Tiny Treasures Learning Centre. It was their version of the medal Holly worked so hard to achieve and so desperately wanted but in the end was just out of her reach. “I can’t put into words what these kids have done,” said Holly fighting back tears. “If they can even take a little of this and realize how important it is to look after yourself and eat healthy and exercise, they’ll be OK and they won’t be where I was and learn at 37 that you have to do something.”

Holly Johnson of Grand Bay-Westfield, a busy mother of five young children, took on the challenge of her life in January. Until a year ago, she never exercised or dealt seriously with the weight issue that has plagued her all her life. That all changed after the birth of her twins when Holly realized she had to do something about her health. She went to Weight-Watchers and started exercising for the first time. She lost over a hundred pounds and decided to join Team Diabetes and enter a half marathon in Disney World. She trained and worked hard raising the $4,500 required to enter the event. Holly and her family went to Florida in January for the race. In the end Holly was 30 seconds behind the cut off time for the first five miles and was forced to pull out of the race. She said Disney officials, rounded them up, put them on the bus and drove them to the finish line. Holly said it was humiliating and people inside the bus were crying.

(I have to wade in here with a comment about this ridiculous Disney policy. I’ve run in a number of half marathons and everyone who can, finishes the race on their own. That’s what it’s about. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. These aren’t elite athletes running in the Boston Marathon. Disney World, of all places, should know better.)

Disney World’s ridiculous rules aside, Holly still feels good about what she accomplished. Together with the rest of her team, they raised a lot of money for diabetes research. Holly’s challenge also touched many people included the teachers and children at Tiny Treasures. Holly’s son attends the school and when they heard what she was doing, they all agreed to raise money for the cause. They collected pennies and coins and some kids made a withdrawal from their piggy bank every time they came to class. In the end, the children and staff presented Holly with an ice cream bucket full of rolled coins totaling almost 211 dollars.

After taking a couple of weeks off, Holly is back into the exercise routine. She’s going a fitness class at the gym and she and her husband are talking about getting bikes in the summer so they can all be active together as a family. Holly says she’s come too far to quit now. She can’t go back to the lifestyle she used to have. Holly says these three and four year old kids at the school are truly an inspiration for her and we can all learn from them.

“This medal is way nicer than anything Disney could provide,” says Holly. “It’s made by teachers and kids and I will treasure it forever.”

Also on the show, more of your emails about outdoor adventures from spear-fishing through the ice to hiking the Grand Canyon and more outdoor book suggestions including an audio book review from Anthony of Anthony's Audio Journal.

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