Dear Fellow Marathoners,

This is Cindy Whitaker from Durango, Colorado USA. Just 35 miles from my cabin lies a working cattle ranch dating back to the late 1880s. Those are my roots. Delving into DNA has only opened my eyes to what tenacity and perseverance really looks like!!  I come from stock, the tried and true tough stock, only few recognize. My great aunt and uncle, each in their 90s, still work the ranch! They are everyday heroes in my book!!

This will be my third year as a full marathon participant. I spend approximately 10 days collecting new materials to go with my tools of the trade pwriting box. My box has some very old dictionaries and poetry collections ( classics and peer/modern writers ) and the essentials. I use bold pens, special scrap paper I collect all year for drafts &/or meters. During the year, I add random words, images or short articles for encouragement as much as actual inspiration! For 24 hours I am a skilled and talented writer. I don’t have to travel far. I am instantly transported into a precious writer’s nook with solitude and quiet.

I want to add that I have had my poems included in the anthologies and those collections are so very cool!! I gave away many copies, specifically for feedback!! Feedback was always raw and exhilarating! I ve also had other, non marathon pieces, published in a local community magazine. That feedback was also life changing! Folks had known me for 30 years in that small town, but once I wrote and published several poems, relationships shifted. Yes, it felt like a grand sense of accomplishment in one way, and then suddenly those folks began to actually see me. I began to write and create and share more…fear no longer held me back!

Lastly, the community of writers right here in the marathon are supportive and real! You are truly welcomed in!! Expect to be pushed and challenged! Expect to be vulnerable! Expect to be humbled! Most of all give yourself whatever time you can to decompress * I find that helps with intention in reading and commenting on my peers’ work following the marathon.

As the 2022 Poetry Marathon Rolls In, like a rip-roaring tidal wave, I send out best wishes and happy trails to every participant! Let’s do this!!