A marathon race covers just over 26 miles and – for the best
of the best – takes just over two hours to complete.
Stephanie Freeman of Rochelle wants to run in the Boston
Marathon. She may or may not make it to the sport’s marquee event, but she
certainly qualified as a winner in the race for her life 20 years ago.
The now 34-year-old Freeman was just learning how to drive a
car when a serious accident nearly took away her ability to walk.
“I suffered lung and brain injuries,” she said after
completing the half-marathon Saturday at the 17th annual Museum of Aviation
Foundation event that included a full marathon and 5K. “I was in a coma for two
months. I had to relearn how to walk, talk, eat, swallow. It took two months of
rehabilitation to learn how to walk again.”
The location of the accident was Hwy. 215 in her home of
Rochelle in Wilcox County. Near Mallard Point Golf Course, she swerved off the
road and her vehicle flipped five times.
“I was driving at 14 and shouldn’t have been,” she said.
“They told me I would never walk again. They were preparing my family to put in
ramps at the house, to be in a wheelchair the rest of my life. I see myself in
that wheelchair and it makes me (run) even harder.”
After a month of the rehab, Freeman said she was able to use
a walker. Her hospital stay lasted a total of four months, eight days. It was
Oct. 8, 1993, that she was able to return home.
“I wasn’t walking perfect,” said Freeman. “I was still a
little unstable, and I didn’t run for years. I didn’t start running until
probably 2002 or 2003.”
Freeman describes herself pre-wreck as someone who was not
an active teenager at all. Aside from the rehab work, she said the other parts
of her life were fairly regular, going to school and doing homework.
“It taught me never to give up,” said Freeman. “Never give
up on anything. I have goals set.”
She was also blessed with motherhood in 2005. Freeman got
into half-marathon running prior to that, but she said after delivering it
clicked in her not to cut back but to pick up the pace and go for the full
marathon distance.
“Six weeks later I was training for my first full marathon,”
she said. “I tell people the longer distances keeps me sane. It’s like Prozac
for me.”
The bug for running at all began with her rehab. She said
she was running with a friend, Cindy Bridges, who is an exercise physiologist.
Running at first for Freeman was about weight loss.
“I was hooked after about three miles,” she said. “My
highlight event would be my first marathon. When I crossed that finish line, I
just shed tears. I remembered being told I would never walk again. I had my son
(Preston) at the finish line waiting on me.”
Her time was four hours, 14 minutes, which she says is quite
good for a first attempt. For the distance runner, winning against a pack isn’t
as important as beating your own previous times, and for Freeman she is now
looking to beat a time that will put her in Boston.
“I have a running blog for whoever wants to follow me,” she
said. “It’s StephanieChasingBoston.blogspot. I am going to try to qualify in
March in Albany. I (first) tried in December.”
Freeman needs to get to three hours, 40 minutes, to satisfy
the Boston requirements. When not trying to make this time, Freeman can be
found in her job as office manager at a dental practice in Cordele.
In Saturday’s half-marathon near Robins Air Force Base,
Freeman finished fourth in her age group (female 30-34) in over one hour and 42
minutes.
HHJ News
