When most

people hear that state Rep. Kathy Cox of the 105th

District is running, they immediately think in terms of

running for election.

While Cox

says she is definitely running again in next year's

election, she is also gearing up to run a different race.

She is training for a race that will occur well before

next year's election race gears up, the Atlanta Half

Marathon Thanksgiving Day, a 13-mile race.

Cox also

has just completed another non-election race. She joined

more than 50,000 who ran in the 30th Peachtree Road Race

July 4 this year.

Two things

are very clear when talking to Cox regarding running: she

is goal oriented and she is competitive. She also knows

how to motivate herself to complete her running goals

- she makes them public.

She made a

bet with her seat mate, Rep. Austin Scott, regarding the

Atlanta Half Marathon. He will be taking Cox and family

to dinner when he is shown proof in the form of a

finish-line photo that she completed the race. And, as

she laughingly noted, "Once this is in newsprint, I

will have really done it. There will be no way I could

ever back out of completing the race!"

She says,

"I won't set any time records, but I'm bound and

determined to run the half marathon again."

Cox has

been running off and on since high school in Pennsylvania

where she played field hockey. She got serious about

running again in 1996. "I've always used running as

a way to stay in shape," she said. The 1998 election

interrupted her routine, "but now I'm getting back

into it."

About a

year ago she also joined Gold's Gym in Peachtree City

where she tries to work out at least three times a week.

But during the election she didn't have time, she said,

"and this year the legislature has taken more

evenings than I thought it would." She continued,

"I struggle like everyone else with finding time,

but I do know when I exercise I feel so much better and I

know the benefits."

After

completing the Atlanta Half Marathon will she be training

for a marathon? "No. I'll be satisfied to run the

half marathon again," she said.

"My

main goal is just to get back into shape. Running is best

for me, but I plan to try the stationary bicycle spinning

classes at the gym, too," she added.

Additionally,

she plans to take a "how-to" free weight class

at the gym to explore the possibility of adding weights

to her exercise regime. In October, Cox also will run her

third 15K Peachtree Classic.

This was

her second Peachtree Road Race and will be the second

time she has run the Atlanta Half Marathon. She is using

the same training schedule she successfully used in 1997,

which she received from the Atlanta Running Club.

She ran her

first Peachtree in 1997 with three fellow teachers. Donna

Brown, a teacher at Starr's Mill, and Karen Smith, a

teacher and former Cox student at Fayette County High

School, ran this year's race together. Their other

"running buddy," teacher Marsha Cichanski, had

to miss the race this year, but will be joining Cox and

Smith to run the half marathon.

Regarding

this year's Peachtree Road Race, she noted, "It was

fun, it was hot and the ending was very

anticlimactic." Due to construction at Piedmont

Park, the ending of the race was moved, resulting in a

finish-line bottleneck.

Her friend

and running mate, Donna Brown, chimed in, "However,

the attitude of the people was great." This year's

Peachtree was Brown's tenth.

Both were

very complimentary of the volunteers and the other

runners. "It's such a fun event, everyone is in good

spirits, and there's such good will and

sportsmanship," Cox said.

"It's

very patriotic, too, with all the spectators cheering

with their July 4th attire, flags and things."

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