Island woman runs full marathon in Greece after taking wrong bus to start

SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. - An Island woman who trained for a 10-km walk ended up running a full marathon in Greece earlier this fall, after taking the wrong bus to the starting line.
Catherine Dickson said Monday she'd trained with Team Diabetes for the walk, and was determined to raise money in memory of her late sister and mother, who had died from complications related to the disease.
But she faced a serious dilemma after taking the wrong bus and ending up at the beginning of the 42-kilometre run, while the driver declined to bring her to the proper starting point for her event.
She says she "didn't come all this way to do nothing," and set off for the finish line.
She arrived six hours and 48 minutes later, bleeding at the thighs and exhausted, and was treated as a hero by some other members of her team.
Dickson said she struggled on by thinking of her family, of those who donated towards her $6,100 fundraising goal and of her late mother and sister.
She found the first 20 kilometres bearable, but hit the runner's wall with about 12 kilometres to go.
"I thought, 'I only have 12 kilometres to do, damn it, I'm not stopping now."'
Unlike experienced long-distance runners Dickson hadn't used body glide to lubricate her legs, making each stride more painful than the last.
Then, with only four kilometres left, the rain broke and the sun began to shine. Feeling the presence of her mother and sister, Dickson knew she would finish.
"I knew if I had to crawl it I was going to make it," she said. "I knew that they were there and that they were cheering me on."
"I was never an athlete," said the 47-year-old mother of four. "To have someone put a medal around your neck, that was surreal. I was sore but I did it. I set out to do what I wanted to do."
At the finish Team Diabetes members and veteran runners lauded her as a hero.
"One of the men going by said, 'you're bleeding, you're a true marathoner'."
Dickson finished ahead of dozens of runners in six hours and 48 minutes.
She says her late sister Clara would be proud.
"I'm going to do it again and I'll do the 42 kilometres."
And what would she say to that bus driver?
"Thank-you, I really would. It was a gift. I really didn't think I had it in me."