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A band of runners

May-10-2004 » Filed Under: Homefront

[Link to Full Article]
LYSA PON GARBER, THE OLYMPIAN

Days after their husbands were sent to Iraq, Janene LeMay, Debbie DiRocco and Janice Kern started training for their first half-marathon.

"We needed something to do that was productive and had a purpose," said LeMay of Lacey. Their husbands left for Iraq in January.

The three women, along with Sharon Olson, whose husband was sent to Iraq in November, are training together to run in Sunday's Capital City half-marathon in Olympia.

Love of running and a shared military connection brought the women together.

As wives of attorneys who work for the Judge Advocate General's Office on Fort Lewis, LeMay, DiRocco and Kern already had a connection. Then they found out they all liked to run. When another JAG wife and avid runner, Barb Merriam of Olympia, asked them to train with her for the half-marathon, a running group was born.

LeMay, DiRocco and Kern -- none of whom had done any distance running -- said knowing their husbands were leaving spurred their decision to do the 13.1-mile race.

Good luck to all of them.


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