Longtime Culver City resident and recovering couch potato, Eleanor Brownn, is a featured author through the end of October at historic Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena.
Brownn was 80 pounds overweight and pushing age 50 when she decided to go after her dream of taking on the 26.2 mile challenge of the L.A. Marathon.
She trained on the streets of Culver City for six months at 4 a.m. every morning before going to work as an administrator at UCLA. On her lunch break, she would take on the hills of Westwood to squeeze in a few more miles.
Brownn wrote a memoir about her experience called “MILE 9: The true story of a lifelong couch potato who one day made a decision that changed everything,” (Bookmark Publications) with foreword by TV and radio personality Leeza Gibbons.
But marathon training is not only a test of physical endurance, it’s about strengthening the mind and spirit as well. MILE 9 is an inspirational book about putting one foot in front of the other when you feel like you can’t go on, and discovering an inner strength you never knew you had
Brownn says “Although I ended up looking a lot different on the outside, the real change was what happened on the inside.”
Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91101, 626-449-5320, was founded in 1894 and is Southern California’s oldest and largest independent bookstore.