Culloden Mom Qualifies for Boston Marathon | News

This April, a Culloden woman will join roughly 25,000 other elite runners and compete in the Boston Marathon.  It's a huge honor to qualify and get the coveted entry sheet in the mail, but for this mom it's even more than that. It's a statement and a lesson for her kids to keep fighting no matter the odds.

When Kitty Robinson gives a shout out every morning, most of her six kids get down to business.  The energetic 35-year-old homeschools the children. As you can imagine, life can get a little crazy. "It is it is except the phone ringing somebody getting hurt a diaper change and then they laundry then you've got it," Robinson chuckled.

Despite the daily chores, Kitty has found the time to head out everyday with at least one kid in tow and train for marathons.

"When we first lived here, we thought it would be great to bring everybody on a run, and they would get on bikes. And I would push a double stroller, but that got a little too crazy," Robinson explained.

The craziness calmed down, and now she's into a routine that puts her out on the road for several miles six out of seven days a week.

"The only problem I have is dogs. They like to chase me down and follow me home," Kitty said.

She can handle the dogs.
 
But another problem cropped up six years ago that wasn't as easy to write off. A medical situation that started at birth became apparent when Robinson hit 29.

"I have chiari brain malformation," Robinson said, "so the back of the brain is coming out through the opening of the skull. For me, the main problem is that fluid couldn't flow around my head, and I had extreme dizziness. It's so little, but this little part of my brain should not be down in that opening. It should come up here, so that little thing has caused a lot of trouble for me."

Doctors looked at the scans and operated.

"He said you will have this surgery, and you will be a dependent person for two months," Robinson said, "What I heard is that I would be back to running in two months."

It actually took two years for Kitty to get competitive again.

Fueled by her good health, she set her sights on the ultimate runner's goal: the Boston Marathon.

To qualify for the event, she had to knock out another 26.2 mile race in three hours and 45 minutes. She did that and got a confirmation to the elite race in the mail.

"There are so many spectators and so much excitement. It's hard to hold yourself back. You can go too fast at the beginning, "Robinson said with a smile.

It's an experience that in the long run teaches her kids some lessons about life that they won't find around the kitchen table.

One - have a sense of humor.

"I told my husband I have a big brain, but he didn't believe me," she chuckled.

And two - never give up on the things that matter to you.

"As long as I can run, I'm going to do it as long as I can be active with my kids, I'm going to do it because you don't know from one day to the next what you're going to have ...what you're going to have to work with," Robinson said with conviction.

You didn't see him in the piece, but Kitty really credits her husband Casey with helping her train.

She says sometimes he loads up the kids in the van and follows her down the road if she has to run in the dark.