It is common knowledge that Mae Palm can run, swim and cycle, but she revealed her ability to write by contributing to a recently published book about running.
Marathon Mae contributed to a book called Running in the Zone. The book is a collection of short submissions by seasoned runners. Steve King and Dan Cumming are the masterminds behind the initiative. As co-editors, the pair convinced more than 25 people to write about their athletic experiences and then brought their stories together and put them into the book.
Palm revealed in the book why she competes under her maiden name - her legal last name is Wilson.
In her five-page contribution to the book, she revealed that she competes under the name Mae Palm as a memorial to her mother who passed away in 1990.
Like the rest of the contributors to the book, Palm has many years of competing to write about, but her competitive juices didn't start flowing until 1980 when she entered an eight-kilometre run in Squamish at the age of 41.
She started running in her late 30's when she noticed she was gaining weight.
"Being just 4'11" in height, I didn't want to wind up as wide as I was high," she wrote in the book.
She was hooked on competing after she won her age category at the race back in 1980.
Palm wrote how that first race evolved into a pastime that has taken her to international events like the Western States 100 Miler and the World Ironman Championship Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii.
The medals and top finishes kept coming and she placed second in her age category last month in the most recent Ironman at Kona.
Palm is in prestigious company, as the editors of the book convinced Olympians and world record holders to contribute to the effort.
Doug Alward, Terry Fox's closest friend, shared some memories of the Marathon of Hope.
Palm wrote in her piece that Fox is a hero to her and she hopes to continue competing for a cause. She often dedicates her competitive efforts to the memory of someone, but she yearns to do more.
"The inspiration of Terry Fox tells me there is something out there that will one day click with me and there I will know what my cause will be," she wrote in the book.
Trafford Publishing is publishing the 227-page paperback as an on-demand [email protected]
