Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.There are workouts. Like running for 40 minutes while pushing 100 pounds of kid and stroller.
And then there are workouts. Like digesting the news that your toddler has an incurable spinal muscular disease and might never walk while your Marine Corps husband is slogging it out in Afghanistan and can't come home any time soon.
Stephanie Geraghty, an Avoca, Iowa, native living in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, has experienced both.
And her ability to transcend the pain, endure the struggle and keep on the path in both regards have earned her distinction as Military Spouse Magazine's "Marine Spouse of the Year." This puts her in the running for the magazine's top honor: Military Spouse of the Year.
Geraghty is among six competing for the annual prize. The others — four women and a man — are married to people in the other branches of the military: Army, Coast Guard, Navy, National Guard and Air Force.
Their stories are compelling. One woman has multiple sclerosis. Another is married to a four-time cancer survivor who is in the Navy. Two have children with disabilities. All share a commitment for easing a life that for military families can be isolating, disruptive and difficult.
The contest offers a platform as a prize. The winner gets to write about and lobby for an issue of importance.
Anyone can vote online from now until March 5. Go here to vote.
The winner will be announced in May.
Geraghty, 30, knew what she signed on for at 18, when she met Brian. Though she was a student at the University of Kansas and he was already a Marine, they shared Iowa roots (he's from Cedar Rapids), Catholic faith and a passion for running.
They dated for four years and married after Stephanie finished college. Their eight-year marriage includes stops at three bases: Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado, Marine Corps Base Quantico near Washington, D.C., and Camp Lejeune.
His second tour to Afghanistan just ended. He came home on Valentine's Day after being gone 7½ months.
Brian, 32, has six years before he can retire. For now, he will be based at the Marines' Special Operations Command at Camp Lejeune. Stephanie said she expects Brian to deploy a final time. But there's good news: The family won't have to move.
This gives her more time to deepen her commitment to Stroller Warriors, a running club she started as a transplant to Camp Lejeune in 2009 with an infant and a toddler.
The Geraghtys chose to live off base and Stephanie worried about meeting people and finding a support network for herself and playmates for her boys, Caden, then 2½, and Cole, an infant. The former Drake Relays high jumping champ wanted to join a running club but couldn't find one that also met her needs as a mom without child care.
So Stroller Warriors was born.
The free group, which runs with children in tow, grew from two to 179 active members plus satellite clubs in Okinawa, Japan, and New Orleans. Geraghty is starting other clubs at Camp Pendleton and Virginia Beach. She's been contacted by the Air Force, which wants to start a Stroller Warriors group for women at its bases.
About 50 members of the Camp Lejeune group show up three times a week for 40-minute runs on asphalt trails.
While aimed at the stroller set, the club is not limited to mothers nor to military wives. Older children who ride bikes or scooters are welcome. So are women, unaffiliated with the Marine Corps, who can get on base through visitor passes.
Geraghty pushes her two sons — Caden is now 5 and Cole is 2½ — in a double-stroller for a total load she estimates at 100-plus pounds.
"It's awesome, awesome resistance work," she said.
The group does more than run. There is now a book club and a Bible study. Last year, the group took food and meals to homeless women. And they're raising money for causes, like spinal muscular atrophy.
Cole was diagnosed with the disease in 2011. He couldn't walk at 18 months and testing showed he had spinal muscular atrophy, which is incurable and, in infants, can be fatal. Cole's disease is likely not fatal, but doctors have said they don't think he'll ever walk.
The toddler has been fitted with leg braces and is getting a wheelchair.
Stephanie Geraghty said it was hard coming to terms with Cole's condition.
"The anger was replaced with thanks he's doing so well," she said. "There are plenty of other activities and ways he can participate."
Geraghty is focused on Cole's health and spreading Stroller Warriors nationwide.
"There is something about the open sky," she wrote in her award application, "the song of my feet pounding the pavement and the powerful simplicity behind each stride that soothes whatever ails me."
Contact the writer:
402-444-1136, erin.grace@owh.com
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