Three Ladysmith residents are back from the Boston Marathon with personal best times under their belts.“It was fantastic, a really good experience,” Nancy Henry said.Henry, Deb Windsor and Dolly Brown, ran the full 42-kilometre race in just more than three hours.Henry’s time was 3:32:26, Windsor’s 3:32:25 and Brown’s 3:39:57. “We were all happy with our times,” said Windsor, who also ran the race in 2001. “We’re happy with the way we ran.”The 27,000-strong race was a challenge for the three runners, who trained for four months.“We always maintained a base of running 20 kilometres every weekend,” Henry said, adding the steep hills of Ladysmith helped them.Windsor said the amount of people made the race difficult.“You have to weave in and out of people,” she explained, adding they ran an extra half mile just from running around people.Henry said the amount of spectators was exciting.“People were cheering on the runners all the way and I’ve never experienced that before,” she said. “When they’re cheering they’re cheering for you and it keeps you going.”Henry said running a full marathon is taxing on the body and training is the only way to prepare.“I have to persevere, it doesn’t come easy for me,” she said.But the feeling of finishing a race is one they’ll never forget.“You just feel so proud of yourself,” Henry said.The marathon was Monday, April 18.
