The above nickname was originally used (along with other not-so-fond monikers like “Iron Knickers” and “Attila the Hen”) to refer to Margaret Thatcher, a woman whose reign many (including myself) would rather blot from their memories, but it definitely applies to Arizona trail runner Michelle Felicetta.
In fact, a recent unintentionally funny Runner’s World article about Felicetta has spurred me on to start a new feature as part of my fortnightly postings: let’s call it,
Tough Broad of the Week
What did she do to earn this august title? Well, it seems that during one of her regular trail runs last fall Felicetta was attacked by a rabid fox, which first bit her foot, and then sank its teeth into her left forearm, hanging on like she was a juicy steak and it was a. . . well— a rabid fox. Many people (probably including myself) would have taken this opportunity to scream or jump up and down like idiots; not our heroine. Instead she calmly clamped her other hand around the clinging, vampiric fox’s neck, turned around and ran the 1.5 miles back to her car, where she subsequently flung her furry hitchhiker into the trunk and drove to the nearest hospital to get the shots she knew would be needed.
If you have an example of another woman who recently demonstrated extraordinary strength and presence of mind (see Christina Durgin’s note on her Mom, for example), please send it along and share the inspiration with me/us.
Jeanine Casler lives, runs, and writes in Evanston, Illinois.
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March 26th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
[…] no one has written in with suggestions (shame on you all!), I’m going to offer my own Tough Broad this […]