About this column:
Maureen O'Donnell has been active seemingly from birth. How active? She took ballet as a child, started swimming at 7, has taught and coached swimming, has lifeguarded and taught lifeguarding, has her black belt in taijitsu, played rugby in college, runs, and has competed in a few triathlons. Maureen tackles fitness stories in Columbia and Howard County in her column, which appears every other week on Columbia Patch.The leaves are changing color at Centennial Park: trees, brightly fired by autumn, are mirrored in the lake. The morning is crisp and cool, the start of a beautiful October day. At nine o'clock, half a dozen people gather in the concert pavilion to practice Tai Chi Chuan (or Tai Chi). They attend a weekly class held at the East Columbia 50+ Center, but they practice outdoors when the weather allows. Minutes into practice, dozens of Canadian geese descend, honking, and splash into the water. Combined with the colors and sunshine, the scene captures the natural beauty and grace of Tai Chi. …
It is well before dawn on a Sunday. Hundreds of cars are lined up in neat rows in Centennial Park. More headlights shine in the darkness. The air is cool – still in the low 50s – but men and women are pulling off sweatshirts and holding out arms to volunteers with markers in their hands. They walk away with race numbers written on their upper arms, and their ages on the back of one leg. These are triathletes, and they converged on Centennial Park in Ellicott City on Oct. 3 for the inaugural Half-Full Triathlon, a 70-mile endurance event put on by the Columbia-based Ulman Cancer Fund for Young…
