I've heard elementary school teachers have to have the endurance of a marathon runner.
In that case Jacks Valley Elementary School second-grade teacher Tanya Martian has it all.
Tanya, a Carson City resident, ran in the Boston Marathon on Monday, completing the race in four hours 25 minutes.
"It was overwhelming," she said. "It's pretty amazing to see all the people there and there was great support for us."
The 28-year-old Montanan came to Northern Nevada from Las Vegas in 2002, where she was an elementary school teacher for four years.
She received her teaching degree at Montana State-Billings. She said she has been running since she was 8 years old and ran track and cross-country in high school and college.
More than 20,000 runners participate in the Boston Marathon, making it by far the biggest run Tanya has ever been involved in. She qualified for the run in June.
"The biggest marathon I'd ever run in had 2,000 people," she said. "I would love to do it again, if I can qualify.
Appeal staff writer Teri Vance's uncle Harold A. Vance ran in Monday's Boston Marathon, coming in 14th in his age group.
The 72-year-old completed the run in 4 hours 45 minutes and 22 seconds. Harold is brother to Teri's father, Dayton resident Ralph Vance.
Former Appeal City Hall reporter, and Austin native, Amanda Hammon completed the Yakima River Canyon Marathon April 3 in five hours and 16 minutes. She said the first 20 miles weren't bad.
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I attended Friday evening's grand opening of the Joe Dini Library and Student Center.
Assembly Speaker Emeritus Joe Dini wowed the more than 60 people in attendance with a pretty good speech, zingers and all.
"Despite some of the rumors my frat brothers spread, I did not receive a map to the UNR library in my senior year," he said.
University and Community College System Chancellor Jane Nicholls came down for the ceremony, which was attended by many Carson City and Douglas illuminati, including Carson Mayor Ray Masayko, Supervisor Shelly Aldean, former Carson Sen. Ernie Adler, former Assemblywoman Bonnie Parnell, Yerington Assemblyman Tom Grady, State Treasurer Brian Krolicki, Douglas County manager Don Holler and College Foundation President Steve Lewis.
The alcove at the library has a great view of the city and I can see myself sitting their grading papers one December day and looking out as the snow falls.
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Bob Pohlman came in to talk to me about the Shriner's Saturday medical clinic. Bob has lived in Minden for about 10 years when he retired here from Long Island.
"How did you pick Minden from all the way in Long Island?" I asked.
"I read books about it," he said. "I was reading about Reno, but then I went down the article and found Minden."
Bob has been in the Shriner's for seven years.
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Clyde Lippincott has lived in Carson City since 1951 and his parents used to own the Frontier Mobile Home Park before 1976.
I got a chance to talk with Linda Lippincott Wednesday during the power outage, and she told me Clyde built the Frontier Plaza. It was Clyde who remembered the power being out for three days back in the fall of 1961 when the only power lines caught fire and burned.
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They are replacing the sidewalk alongside the Capitol, so anyone thinking of taking a walk along Musser Street might want to reconsider.
As always along with the singing birds and blooming flowers comes roadwork season and Carson will be pretty bad this year, so take it easy.
Kurt Hildebrand is city editor at the Nevada Appeal. Reach him at hildebrand@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1215.
