A Sobering Reminder

I recently started following a blog, Shut Up and Run, for inspiration and humor. However, a week ago, the woman who writes it, Beth, posted that her cousin and friend, Sherry Arnold, had gone missing while out for her Saturday morning run in rural Montana. The only trace of her was a single running shoe.

Since then, I've checked in daily for updates. Today, the sad news came: Sherry Arnold is not coming home. The 43-year-old runner, wife, mother, and teacher leaves a small community of people shocked and saddened, but beyond that, she leaves a much larger community--of runners, of people who understand what it is to go out there and pound the pavement--desperately trying to understand why terrible things like this happen.

I didn't know Sherry, but she is me. She is every woman who constantly looks over her shoulder while running, calling herself paranoid. She is every woman who skips a day's run because it's too dark out, or she doesn't feel safe running alone. She is every woman who has been harassed, assaulted--or worse, abducted and/or killed while exercising that wonderful, oh-so-human right to go out and find joy in being healthy.

It's such a sobering reminder to all of us. It makes me sad, and it makes me angry. I hope whoever did this is found and appropriately locked up for life. I hold out hope that our world will get safer for women, that we will continue to watch out for each other.


My sincerest condolences go out to Sherry's family, friends and community. Her husband and children are in my thoughts as they come to terms with their horrible loss. Rest in peace, Sherry.