After injuring my hip at the Peachtree Road Race in July, I pondered hanging up my running shoes for good, but Teri Hatcher might just be sending me an inspirational message. Teri, who turns 54 in December, is running her second marathon, the TCS New York City Marathon, on November 4th.
The actress ran her first NYC Marathon in 2014, with an impressive time of 5:06:42. She ran after she was contacted by Sean Penn’s J/P Haitian Relief Organization to help them fundraise. At the time, she told Women’s Running that once she was able to run without music, “I started to understand the meditative high that can come with running. It really does put you in touch with your mind, your breathing and your body.”
Back in 2014 Teri ran solo, but this time she’s making it a mother/daughter bonding experience, running alongside her 20-year-old daughter Emerson Tenney. This time Teri and Emerson are raising funds for Save the Children. Teri told People why she is teaming up with her daughter this time around, revealing:
“We have a really close great relationship, but I think that she would say, and I agree with this, that this is different than just going on a trip or spending time together. Something about the ups and downs of training for such a physical feat as a marathon — that sort of vulnerability, the adversity that you have to get through and pushing through walls together — and having that experience as a team; it’s just a bonding thing that you can’t really replace or have from any other experience. And I think we both wanted that together.”
Emerson shared that her main motivation for running the 26.2 mile course isn’t the physical achievement.
“I want to run the NYC marathon because I want to run it with my mom. I’m grateful that as I get older, we can share so many experiences together, and I’m lucky that my mom is such a badass that she’s able to inspire me and push me to try things outside of my comfort zone. At the end of the day, I think we inspire each other and that’s what the marathon is all about for me — celebrating mother-daughter relationships and the strength those relationships can give us to overcome obstacles.”
The two are training for the race under the guidance of TrainingMate founder (and gorgeous man) Luke Milton, who has them doing short to mid-length runs during the week interspersed with strength training and one longer run per week. Of course, they’re also maintaining a healthy diet. Teri confessed that both she and Emerson don’t really love running, but they do love the endorphin rush and the sense of accomplishment you feel when you’re done. I feel you, Teri.
I started running in my late 30s and have done a few races for charity – and I really admire Teri strapping on her sneakers for a good cause. By the way, if you want to run the NYC Marathon and do something good for others, there are still charity spots available via the race website. Trust me, if you can do it, I highly encourage it. You may be sore, but you can feel good knowing you helped someone in need.
Photos: WENN, Getty
My daughter and I did the Warrior Dash together. It was a blast. I would love to do a marathon. I have trained with C25K (couch to 5K – what I was aiming to run at the time) and it was a great program to do. I started on the treadmill and found when I could run 25 minutes on the treadmill I could do the whole 5K running in the neighborhood with no problem. Going to start training for some more 5K’s and work my way up.
Ah, I miss running! My boobs would be at my belly button (sports bras can only do so much for my size) or I’d still be jogging around. Teri looks great though. She’s aging pretty naturally from the looks of her.
I”m on the fence about charity races. On the one hand, it’s personally very satisfying to finish a race and be part of the event. As far as the charity part, my limited experience has been that very little of the money actually goes to the cause. People would be better off contributing directly to the charity instead of going through a marathon race.
As someone who walked to school 4 miles everyday back and forth for 3 years, I never saw the point of running and walking for pleasure. However, I do admire people who can run a marathon and even more because they do it to help other people.
I’ll have to look into C25K thanks! I just took up running (I’m 52) and I’m hoping to do a 5K near me called Runch or Run for Brunch. They have shirts that say “Will run for champagne!” I told my husband, “I’ve found my people!”
I’m skipping the NYC Marathon this year in favor of the Exuma Marathon. I’ve done 5K’s with my spawn and husband and it’s usually one of the really fun ones.
It’s always awesome to see someone get out and move their body, and finishing a marathon is always a great achievement. But a 5:00 Marathon isn’t spectacular. She didn’t even make the Oprah line!
she looks so amazing it alllllmost makes me consider taking up running if i could get some kinda promise i myself’d look that good at 54.
but yeah, running to me always seems to equal pain (not good-sore pain but something’s-wrong pain in my hip, knee, and opposing-side ankle… it freaks me out, and if i liked running more i’d go ahead and see a podiatrist or somebody about special inserts or something.
but also, yeah, boob sag too. i don’t trust even the best sports bras, tho i should probably take a longer view.
in the end, swimming, walking, yoga? -gentle stuff !
but perhaps have to do much, much more of those things to get thigh gap like that … i wonder what she eats.