By Merlin Lessler —<\/p>\n
I wrote this article in 2005. I asked to have it re-run as a memorial to Pat Williams, who passed away in April. She was walking and running the streets right up to the start of 2025. Here is the article:<\/p>\n
You won\u2019t find them in the village office, the town hall, or the county legislative chamber, yet these women \u201crun\u201d Owego. They run the streets! You\u2019ve all seen them one time or another \u2013 jogging along Route 17C by the Treadway Inn on a rainy morning \u2013 sailing past Riverow – coming down the hill by Johnson\u2019s Pools on Route 434 – cresting the rise on Davis Hill or chugging along on Route 96 by the school bus garage. It\u2019s hard to have missed them. And if you\u2019re like me, you\u2019ve always wondered what their \u201cstory\u201d was, why they run, and who they are. I decided to find out. At the risk of being arrested for stalking, I ran them down. <\/p>\n
Let me introduce you to the \u201cOwego Six\u201d \u2013 the women who run Owego \u2013 (as pictured, top row \u2013 left to right \u2013 Pat Williams, Barb Morrissey, Carol Livermore \u2013 bottom row, Irene Graven, Molly Shaw, Amy Pritchard). They all run in the morning, except Barb Morrissey, who prefers the afternoon or early evening. Pat Williams is the early bird. She starts her 10-mile routine at 4 a.m. Carol Livermore, who also pounds out double-digit miles every day, starts her routine at a more reasonable hour, as does the rest of the Owego Six. Carol puts in several 20-mile runs, which add up to over 100 miles per week on her internal odometer. Molly, Irene, Amy, and Barb usually run about six miles or so, though they are all known to throw in a long run when they have the chance.<\/p>\n
Barb tries to work in a 15-mile stint to keep fit for marathons. She\u2019ll be running her 15th NY City Marathon on November 6, her 32nd marathon overall. Amy Pritchard also runs competitively in marathons and other races, but the rest of the women don\u2019t. They only run for fun, for fitness, and the pleasure of starting the day on the right foot (excuse the pun). It gets their metabolisms cranked up and helps to burn off excess calories. I\u2019ve watched them run; I know it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n
Livermore and Pritchard started running when they were very young, at eight and ten, respectively. Molly started her running in high school, Pat \u2013 after finishing college, and Irene when she was in her 20\u2019s; \u201cMarathon\u201d Barb was 31, a smoker, and determined to change her ways when she took up jogging and joined her husband on the road. If you add up all the years they\u2019ve been running, it exceeds 150. Barb, Carol, Amy, and Pat have been at it for 30 years or more. This isn\u2019t a passing fancy; it\u2019s a way of life.<\/p>\n
When they aren\u2019t on the road running Owego, you can find them hard at work: Irene Graven is the 1st Assistant Tioga County DA, Barb Morrissey is a nurse at Lourdes Hospital, Molly Shaw is the fruit and vegetable specialist at Cornell Cooperative Extension, Carol Livermore is both an artist and a floral designer, the latter at Ye Olde Country Florist, Amy Pritchard teaches second grade at OA Elementary School in Apalachin, and Pat Williams teaches high school English at Tioga Central School. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve watched them run our town for years and have always admired their grit. They have a work ethic that makes the Postal Creed look pale by comparison. They don\u2019t just run through snow, sleet, and the dark of night; they run through blizzards, tropical storms, heat waves, and cold snaps where the temperature gets so low that half the cars in town won\u2019t start.<\/p>\n
But why do they do it – day after day, year after year? It\u2019s not an easy question to answer. It\u2019s an internal force that drives them. It\u2019s automatic, not a thought process. Oh sure, they can recite, and did when I asked, a list of reasons: \u201cIt\u2019s good for my heart\u201d \u2013 \u201cIt\u2019s a way to unwind\u201d \u2013 \u201cIt gives me the physical strength and mental energy to get me through my life\u2019s other trials\u201d \u2013 \u201cAs a working mother and a wife, it\u2019s time to myself\u201d \u2013 \u201cIt helps me deal with stress and to lead an active physical life\u201d \u2013 \u201cIt makes me feel 20 years younger and much healthier than my non-exercising contemporaries.\u201d <\/p>\n
The unanswered question is \u2013 Why do they stick with it and most of the rest of us don\u2019t?<\/p>\n
They don\u2019t know why, but the point is, they do. And I must confess, when I watch these fleet-footed, dedicated women sail past me on the sidewalk, I\u2019m jealous \u2013 jealous of their stamina, dedication, and grace. It\u2019s no picnic running through the two seasons we have here: winter and monsoons. It \u201cain\u2019t\u201d no fun to run with sleet stinging your face and sleepy-eyed commuters forcing you off the road. It\u2019s pretty obvious that it\u2019s only a matter of time before these high-caliber women will be running a lot more than the streets of Owego. If they ever decide to run the town, not just the streets, they\u2019ve got my vote!<\/p>\n
Update: Barb does most of her running in Florida, except when she is in town training for the New York Marathon. Carol walks on the sidewalks, but mostly behind the counter at her Coffee & Art Bar on Front Street. Irene walks her miles through the village these days. Molly moved to New Zealand. Amy is still at it, running with her gang all around town. Pat\u2019s memory will remain with many of us, forever running through town. She will be missed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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