Penguin World Conference IV
Toronto, Canada
May 24 to 27, 2002The first international Penguin encounter and the first encounter outside of the United States
PWC IV Report from Marie-Claude Lajoie of Ancienne-Lorette, Que...
Date: Thu May 30, 2002
Subject: PWCIV
Here is my short report. I had very high expectations coming to the PWCIV. I was looking forward to meeting Beth and Joe, Dave, Nancy, Shawn, Ken and Terri (oh dear, who am I forgetting???), and putting faces on names from the Penguin Brigade on which I lurk once in a while. (Team Penguin was very under-represented, I think!) I have to say, though, that my expectations for the ethiopian dinner were pretty low.
Well, my expectations were not let down except for the ethiopian dinner! It was really fabulous. Beth is just the nicest person. After I dragged her and Joe on a shopping expedition for hours, she finally asked "Do we have time for Kensington market?" We did have time and it was lovely even though we were caught by the rain.
When the whole group all met for the first time, everybody introduced themselves. It was quite inspiring to hear about every one's achievements, whether they had been running for a few short months or had tens of marathons under their belt. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to really chat with every one but I am happy that I was able to at least exchange a few words with the TP members that were there. Like someone said, it was a life-changing experience. But we also have it here, friends and support and acceptance of every body's goals and abilities. It really means a lot to me to have you guys here for support and to be able to benefit from your words of wisdom and encouragement (except for the guys who are trying to push credit cards on us ;-)).
I have known for a couple of years that I would be walking/running for a long time and this weekend confirm that. We have to respect our bodies in order to progress and hopefully I'll be doing for years to come.
Marie-Claude
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