Viciously attacked while training for the race three decades ago, Passle Helminski, at 68, will finally have her shot on Sunday.
Just inside the front door of Passle Helminski’s home is a pair of Brooks running sneakers with years of miles and memories seeped into their fabric. Helminski, 68, used to wear the hot-pink size 8s zipping around her Erie, Pa., neighborhood, where she trained as a competitive racewalker. She laced them up for sessions at nearby Presque Isle State Park, too, where in the summer of 1993, she regularly strided out 13-mile loops with her older sister, Bonnie, starting before dawn.