Senior Games shooting events just one activity Columbia couple shares

COLUMBIA — Darcy Marlow's matching pink shirt and hat were easy to spot among the mass of camouflage being worn Sunday at the shooting competition at Prairie Grove Shotgun Sports.

Her hat has the word hope written on it with a ribbon signifying breast cancer awareness. She participated in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure 60-mile walk in November in San Diego.

Her husband, Jeff Marlow, was the one who encouraged her to try shooting, and he also played a role in his wife's participation in the breast cancer awareness walk.

Sunday was her second time to compete in the Missouri State Senior Games. She joked about how if no one else showed up for her age division, then she would be taking home the gold medal.

In order to take part in 60-mile event, each walker needed to raise $2,300. Darcy Marlow, 52, and her husband, Jeff Marlow, 56, are both Columbia residents and work for University Hospital. With the help of donations from doctors at the hospital and friends, she was able to enter the walk.

It rained for 40 of the 60 miles.

"She would call me and say, 'Honey, I can't do this,'" Jeff Marlow said. "'I am only at mile 15,' and she would be in tears."

She thought of the walk as a personal challenge and decided to participate in honor of friends who have died of breast cancer.

"There were people who had gone through chemo and radiation who could walk it," Darcy Marlow said. "I am in good health, so I should be able to do it."

At work, the two help each other through rough days. They are the only couple who works in the operating room at University Hospital. In fact, the two met there at the encouragement of Darcy Marlow's mother, who was Jeff Marlow's boss. She knew that Darcy Marlow and Jeff Marlow would both be taking a trip to Lake Tahoe, Nev., at the same time.

"I was like, 'Oh, great. I have to entertain the boss' daughter,'" Jeff Marlow said. "I ended up leaving my friends to spend more time with her and her friends."