Randi Potash has reached 120,020 miles (end of 2022)

Randi Potash
Chatham, MA
DOB: Jan. 19, 1960
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I was adopted by a couple who lived in Medford Massachusetts when I was born to a single mother without means in 1960. My adoptive parents were morbidly obese and really had trouble keeping up with my active nature. 

I was always athletic, skinny and played every sport with boys and girls in the neighborhood - I was good at sports but not great at anything! I played many team sports through the years and wanted to remain in shape for life - I knew that early on. I like to move ! 

My senior year of high school was in 1978 and that year was the great blizzard - that is when I began long distance running just to get out of the house. I had never liked just plain running at all before that. For no apparent reason I got hooked. Throughout  college at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst I ran 5 days a week usually 4-5 miles.

Then in 1982 when I graduated  I began doing weekly 10 K races and ran 40- 50 a week until 1984 when I bumped it up to 75 -80 a week. Between 1984 and 1993 I ran 13 marathons and numerous 5 k, 10k and longer races. My best marathons were 3 hrs 30 minutes to qualify for Boston which was my goal at the time. I qualified a couple of times and ran Boston a total of six times - a few times as a ‘back of the packer’ before qualifying.  Other Marathons included New York, the old Boston Peace Marathon a couple of times, the Cape Cod and Hyannis Marathon a couple of times. 

I have two children and I used to push them in the running carriage. They are Leah, born in 88 and Jason born in 92. I will send a picture of the three of us in 1992. 

Leah went on to make the UMass division 1 track and cross country teams and she has completed five marathons. Jason is also a very good athlete who played numerous sports through high school and college. Leah is an attorney and Jason is about to start chiropractic school. 

My husband Paul has raised over 100 k for the Jimmy Fund through biking the Pan Mass Challenge for many years. He’s a biker and professional fisherman now that he retired from the corporate world of finance at age 54. I believe my running addiction has influenced my family - rubbing off on them consistently on a daily basis for so long. I just do it and they seem to observe and absorb the commitment I’ve displayed.

From 1993 until the present time I’ve run 7 miles a day first thing.  I stopped doing marathons because my hip hurt whenever I ran over 20 miles. I made the decision to run less miles and run healthy forever. Never looked back.

When I was in law school I used to listen to my notes and lectures while i ran.  I always incorporate a morning run into my day no matter what life brings me or where I travel to. My husband Paul is athletic but he’s not a ‘runner’ and doesn’t really get it. Despite that,  we’ve been married for 33 years and I am extremely lucky to be with a health minded and positive guy who is the finest of fathers, and despite not being a runner- Paul is an amazing partner who I cherish. 

I live to run - plain and simple. It has kept me healthy, happy and indeed it has been like a religion for me. Quite divinely the idea of going out running in 1978 with my Nike Cortez leather sneakers and three sweatshirts came out of no where!  There were NO  runners out on the roads then. It’s still a mystery to me as to what makes a runner keep on keeping on - a mystery I don’t feel the need to solve. I accept it for the blessing it continues to be.

I added up the miles quite easily as I always had kept a diary and was consistent for long blocks of time. I would take an oath about my milage ! It comes out to running around the entire world 4.3 times.