Gig Harbor Could Soon Have Its Own Super Mom

Leslie Mayne is a woman on a mission.

And, on Thursday, she could have a new title to go with it: Super Mom.

Mayne, of Gig Harbor, is one of three finalists for KING/5’s “New Day Northwest” Super Mom contest.

One of her co-workers at the nominated her—without telling her in advance—and she said she was both “a bit embarrassed and very humbled” by the honor. Voting continues here through 2 p.m. today and the winner will be announced on air Thursday morning.

“I got a phone call, and they said it was about moms who have had some things in their lives that have been tragic and how they have turned it around and made a difference and tried to live above their circumstance," she said. “Apparently, my story was worthy of that.”

Mayne’s story is one of a mother whose son, Kyle Farr, who served in the army as a Pvt. 1st Class. A sharpshooter and machine gunner on Humvees, he returned from Iraq in 2008 with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury. After some time in military hospitals, he was discharged without his family’s knowledge in January 2009.

The next morning, he was found dead in a Baltimore hotel room. He was 27 years old.

Mayne said that no one will will ever know if Kyle purposefully overmedicated himself. What she does know is that her son is gone.

She has funneled her grief and anger into making a difference for soldiers returning from war with similar “invisible” afflictions so no other mother will ever be in her shoes. Her efforts have led to the inception of the Race for a Soldier Half-Marathon, which will be held in Gig Harbor on Oct. 16.

Using her 10 years of work with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, she is currently establishing nonprofit status for her Permission to Start Dreaming Foundation, which launched in October to draw attention to the cause.

On Monday, Mayne and a friend went to Seattle for the taping, and met with host Margaret Larson, who she said is “just as lovely as she appears on TV … It was like sitting down in a living room with her.”

Before she went on the air, Mayne said that she said a little prayer, asking God to walk her through what she was going to share.

“I just wanted to honor my son … and it turned out really great. I was sort of amazed.”

Part of her amazement stems from Mayne’s disbelief that she even made it into the top three.

“If you read the 10 moms that were nominated, they were so compelling, so courageous. We’re all super moms. Any woman that has children is a super mom.

“We’re all called upon sometimes to do something beyond what we think we can do, and I find myself in that place right now.”

Right now, that means honoring Kyle by planning the best half-marathon the South Sound has ever seen. There has been talk in the community of starting one in Gig Harbor for years.

And, Mayne said, clearly thrilled, even if she does not win, the show has asked her to return to talk about the race. She said she relishes the opportunity to give shout-outs to those who have embraced her and the concept, including the Gig Harbor community, the Tides, the , and the .

She said the outpouring of support has come as a surprise, calling herself “just some yahoo” who had an idea.

Although the race’s website only went live Monday, Mayne said that registrations were already starting to pour in. They plan to limit the race to 2,000 runners, plus entrants to the two-mile kids’ fun run—but, she added with a laugh, there is always room for growth.

“That’s how Bloomsday (in Spokane) started,” she said. “I’m not saying anything, but …

“I don’t want to be doing bake sales and car washes to be doing the kinds of things we need to be doing for our soldiers. I want a race to do big things for our soldiers and support those programs that are really going to do the work. Who wants to do a bake sale for the rest of their life?”

Additionally, she said the race gives the Gig Harbor community the opportunity to get involved, whether through running, volunteering at a water station or being at the finish line handing things out.

“There are so many levels of community,” she said. “We all need to do better than we’re doing—the VA can’t do it alone, and we have far too many soldiers (to help). We’re obligated to do more.”

All money raised through the race and its supporting activities, including a breakfast two days before at the Hope Center, will be funneled through the USO to such programs as Heartbeat Serving Wounded Soldiers and Rainier Therapeutic Riding.

And the final mile of the 13.1-mile race, which will be called Kyle’s Mile, will be run by Mayne herself. That portion of the course will be lined with inspirational photos of her son in his football jersey and on the battlefield. He played two years at Gig Harbor High and finished high school in 2000 at the prestigious Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia, where he also ran track.

“He was a sprinter, so we’re going to honor him that way.”

Mayne said that she knows Kyle would approve of her efforts. After a rough 2008 for both of them—she went through a difficult divorce that year—he sent her a Christmas card saying that he was going to make her proud and that he had high hopes for 2009.

It is her duty now, she said, to carry on for him.

“I know he’s smiling.”