Kathleen Donnelly (on Daves' left) is a 36-year-old in decent shape, who plays soccer and tennis and swims several times a week. For years she’d talked herself out of running a marathon, but woke up one day and realized she’d always regret it if she didn’t try one. Kathleen needed a partner in this endeavor, and her friend Melissa Flynn (on Daves' right) was ideal for the job.

Melissa is in her early 30’s, and ran the Disney Marathon with a 102-degree fever a few years ago. The word “quit” doesn’t exist in her vocabulary. As Melissa’s twin boys approached their second birthday, she too was up for a challenge and wanted to get back into peak fitness.

After much research, they decided on “America’s Friendliest Marathon”, November 10th in Richmond, VA. 

Kathleen already had a charity component in mind, to help her stay inspired through training. She would run to raise money for the new SPCA animal shelter to be built in North Charleston, SC. Melissa, a pet lover herself and former SPCA board member, was immediately on board.

We thought it was a worthy cause, and a great human interest story, so we thought we'd follow them along their way and help them as they go.

We took Kathleen, a first time marathon runner, and the more experienced Melissa, through our "5 Steps to the Perfect Fit" process to ensure they got the best shoe, insoles and socks for their individual needs.

After a few minutes with Neil, Melissa ended up in Saucony Hurricanes as she pronates, and Kathleen ended up in Saucony Triumphs, as she suppinates.

We then hooked them up with some technical moisture wicking apparel, nutritional products, a heart rate monitor, and sent them on their way.

Keep up to date with Kathleen's training progress, daily logs provided by Suunto's T3 wristop computer & heart rate monitor.

To find out more about how these two are getting on, and to donate to their great cause, visit www.road2richmond.com. And, if you see them running around the streets of Charleston, give them a big cheer. Don't worry about the dogs chasing after them; they're just coaching, and pushing for more money for the shelter!

Kathleen and Melissa have been using products from the following vendors:

Suunto - Wristop Computers. Leading edge heart rate monitors, foot pods and pc pods.

Hammer Nutrition - for all their training and racing nutritional requirements.

Skirt Sports - providing athletic apparel for women.

Hammer Nutrition and Skirt Sports products are distributed by Jim Bertrand of Tri 2B Fit.