This week’s East Nasty of the Week hails from the Deep South, is a self-proclaimed chatty Cathy, is a woman after my own heart by combining running and wine, and most recently, PR’d a half marathon by breaking the 2 hour mark! Ladies and Gents, it’s my pleasure to introduce Becky Pendleton as your newest ENOW!

Becky is a good ol’ Mississippi girl, growing up in Picayune which is close to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Southern Miss campus in Hattiesburg, and only 45 minutes from the French Quarter. We can all imagine how much fun Becky and her crew had growing up in an area known for being a big party destination!

While growing up, Becky was very active, but her interests leaned towards the performing arts. She took piano, played french horn and twirled rifle in the marching band. Becky’s passion was dance at the time-- tap, ballet, toe, jazz, acrobats. Following graduation from high school, Dancing Queen Becky majored in Theatre at Millsaps College and was in the Kappa Delta Sorority. During her senior year, Becky started running and even joined the inaugural cross country team. It was also during this time that she attempted her first marathon training. After a 12 mile run that left her unable to walk without hobbling for 2 weeks, she dropped out. According to her, the keg parties and zero knowledge of how to train led to that disaster of an attempt. These days, Becky is the Digital Sales Manager for WKRN, the ABC Affiliate in town (Channel 2). She loves her job and has been in Television in various sales and sales management positions for roughly 13 years.

After Becky’s attempt at marathon training her senior year of college (which I think we can all admit is crazy ambitious), she ran off and on (mostly off) through her young 20s. She was a solo running gal during this time and did not join a group or run races. Becky started running consistently around 2009 or 2010 when she started running with the East Nasties on Wednesday nights. She has no idea how she heard about the group, but says it completely changed her Nashville experience (hear, hear!). After a few months of running with the group, she fell in love with East Nashville and bought a house on Lillian just outside of Shelby Park, on one of the routes. Her friends and boyfriend (Mark Charlton) are East Nasties, and she’s learned so much from running with various individuals.

Her biggest running accomplishment is pretty recent -- she finally met her Half Marathon PR goal of breaking 2 hours. Even though it took about a year and a half and 6 half marathons to do it, she crushed her goal at the Kentucky Derby Mini back in April. She even had 5 minutes to spare! Crushing it, East Nasty style! As for her most memorable East Nasty experience, Becky and her crew ran a Wine Destination Race: Napa to Sonoma last July. Wine and Running?! Cheers to that!

As with most of us, East Nasty has become Becky’s social outlet. She’s also a big fan of the PR Bandits (And just FYI -- East Nasty is partnering this summer with the PR Bandits who are hosting supported long runs on Saturday mornings. Check out Facebook for more deets!) Leeann Maddox introduced Becky to this group, and it’s where she really bonded with some of her best friends, including Jennifer Eberle, Katherine Knight, Michelle Allen-Parker, Art Thompson, Mark Charlton, and so many others. She’s learned so much from all of them as well as Kim Stokes-Lanier, Denise Leaver, Shelly Norton, Dave (CMM Coach this year). This is definitely a great and inspiring group, Becky!

Speaking of her boyfriend, Mark Charlton, this is what he had to say about our ENOW: “Becky is a hippie who disguises herself as an executive during the work week. She is a single mother of two, Will (a senior to be in high school) and Alex (she is in college at UTC). The first thing I ever heard from Becky was on an East Nasty Saturday morning long run. I was dying coming back up Shelby and a group of us were stopped at the red light. Someone asked me how I was doing I responded, 'Just trying to get back to Bongo Java.' She piped in and said, 'Yoda says, "There is no try. There is do and do not." She loves pasta, good wine, (ok all wine). She is not afraid of a shot of Jack Daniels. Her secret talent is that she is one of the best karaoke rappers ever. She is a sub 2 half marathoner who is shooting for a sub 4 marathon in Savannah this fall. Don't bet against her. In the "do and do not" world she is a doer.”

Aside from crushing PRs and having a penchant for wine, Becky has a love for yoga, gardening (both vegetable and flowers), and no matter how hard she tries to become an empty nester, the number of dogs and people that live in her house keeps growing (but says she’s working on that!)

Congratulations, Becky! Your heart, spirit, and dedication truly represents East Nasty!