Worcester Fitness member of 6 years  Bettie Andrews, sat down and told us some of her accomplishments after having just completed her first half marathon on June 13.

“I quit smoking on July 30, two and a half years ago.  To keep from smoking and, more importantly to keep from gaining weight, I started jogging.  I knew I could not run and smoke so that was my motivation.  My work was sponsoring the Canal Diggers 5K; I signed up and told everyone I new that I was running (so I could not back out).  After completing that, I signed up for races in advance to keep me motivated.  I have been a member of Worcester Fitness for just about six years.  When they had the 30 year anniversary 5K, I signed up.  When they were going to start a training team for the half marathon, I thought it would be great to strive for this (the most I had run before this was 6 miles).  The training was great and it was wonderful to have the team support.  Even though I was the slowest one, they still encouraged me.  I was determined not to let the team down; I trained very hard.  On race day I was soooo nervous!  But when I met up with the Team and saw that everyone was nervous I felt better.  I finished the race in 2 hours 45min. and it was one of the best days of my life-pain and all.  I could not have done this without the support of the Worcester Fitness staff and the team.   Thank you.”