By JANET McGREGOR
Contributing Writer

When most people hear that state Rep. Kathy Cox of the 105th District is running, they immediately think in terms of running for election.

While Cox says she is definitely running again in next year's election, she is also gearing up to run a different race. She is training for a race that will occur well before next year's election race gears up, the Atlanta Half Marathon Thanksgiving Day, a 13-mile race.

Cox also has just completed another non-election race. She joined more than 50,000 who ran in the 30th Peachtree Road Race July 4 this year.

Two things are very clear when talking to Cox regarding running: she is goal oriented and she is competitive. She also knows how to motivate herself to complete her running goals — she makes them public.

She made a bet with her seat mate, Rep. Austin Scott, regarding the Atlanta Half Marathon. He will be taking Cox and family to dinner when he is shown proof in the form of a finish-line photo that she completed the race. And, as she laughingly noted, “Once this is in newsprint, I will have really done it. There will be no way I could ever back out of completing the race!”

She says, “I won't set any time records, but I'm bound and determined to run the half marathon again.”

Cox has been running off and on since high school in Pennsylvania where she played field hockey. She got serious about running again in 1996. “I've always used running as a way to stay in shape,” she said. The 1998 election interrupted her routine, “but now I'm getting back into it.”

About a year ago she also joined Gold's Gym in Peachtree City where she tries to work out at least three times a week. But during the election she didn't have time, she said, “and this year the legislature has taken more evenings than I thought it would.” She continued, “I struggle like everyone else with finding time, but I do know when I exercise I feel so much better and I know the benefits.”

After completing the Atlanta Half Marathon will she be training for a marathon? “No. I'll be satisfied to run the half marathon again,” she said.

“My main goal is just to get back into shape. Running is best for me, but I plan to try the stationary bicycle spinning classes at the gym, too,” she added.

Additionally, she plans to take a “how-to” free weight class at the gym to explore the possibility of adding weights to her exercise regime. In October, Cox also will run her third 15K Peachtree Classic.

This was her second Peachtree Road Race and will be the second time she has run the Atlanta Half Marathon. She is using the same training schedule she successfully used in 1997, which she received from the Atlanta Running Club.

She ran her first Peachtree in 1997 with three fellow teachers. Donna Brown, a teacher at Starr's Mill, and Karen Smith, a teacher and former Cox student at Fayette County High School, ran this year's race together. Their other “running buddy,” teacher Marsha Cichanski, had to miss the race this year, but will be joining Cox and Smith to run the half marathon.

Regarding this year's Peachtree Road Race, she noted, “It was fun, it was hot and the ending was very anticlimactic.” Due to construction at Piedmont Park, the ending of the race was moved, resulting in a finish-line bottleneck.

Her friend and running mate, Donna Brown, chimed in, “However, the attitude of the people was great.” This year's Peachtree was Brown's tenth.

Both were very complimentary of the volunteers and the other runners. “It's such a fun event, everyone is in good spirits, and there's such good will and sportsmanship,” Cox said.

“It's very patriotic, too, with all the spectators cheering with their July 4th attire, flags and things.”

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