By Roslyn Ryan
Editor

Powhatan resident Ann Mary Bettenson has a theory — or, rather, a mathematical formula — to describe the growth rate of a certain part of a human’s anatomy: the width of a person’s rear end increases in direct proportion to how much time they spend in the car.

Bettenson, who grew up in London, said she came to understand that reality all too well when she moved to Powhatan 10 years ago and suddenly found herself having to drive everywhere.

The owner of Powhatan’s Deep Creek Stables said she quickly saw a correlation between the hours she was spending in her car traveling to see clients (in addition to boarding and training horses, Bettenson is a custom saddle fitter) and her overall fitness level.

Now however, the 37-year-old has a plan to bring things back in line.

She is currently part of the Powhatan YMCA’s 10K training team, a group that will spend the next two months preparing to run the Ukrop’s Monument Ave. 10K in April.

The training team is perfect for her, Bettenson said, because she’ll have a group of other runners encouraging her and holding her accountable for any lapses in training.

“You can’t just blow it off,” she said of the training schedule, which includes increasingly long runs each Saturday and a week’s worth of conditioning and running in between.

Outgoing and matter-of-fact, the 37-year-old Bettenson makes no bones about the tough days of training she has ahead of her.

But after finishing an 8K last November at the Richmond Marathon, she feels she has what it takes to finish this race as well.

“There might be some walk breaks in there, you never know,” she said last week, preparing to head out with the rest of the team on a frigid morning.

Not only is Bettenson confident that she will conquer the 10K, she also has another goal in mind: this November, she said, she’d like to run a half marathon.

Powhatan Today will continue to follow Bettenson and keep our readers updated on her training.

Next week: Meet Elizabeth Veserat.