She picked up and moved to pursue a cloistered life in the mountains of California, where she ran 17 miles a day. A sense of wonder resides there. I know I ran fast, but it's hard to believe that I ran that fast. Monday on Boylston Street, Gaitenby was the first American woman across the finish line at the 105th Boston Marathon . The path Gaitenby has taken to reach the elite ranks is unexpected.
Nobody dreams that big.
Running became a part of me. Gaitenby was a sort of all-around athletic hack during her days at Hopkins Academy in the early 1980s. I wasn't very good. But she could steal the ball and run. It wasn't until her senior year at BC that she began to enjoy the sport with any semblance of consistency, running once or twice a week.