As mothers around the country are honored today with flowers and cards and perhaps brunch, Casper’s Della Works has a poster full of memories and some heavy hardware on which to reflect.
Works, 72; her daughter, Barbara “Barbie” Bosco, 46; and granddaughter, Nicole Bosco, 23, ran in and finished the Walt Disney World Marathon in Florida in January.
And just for grins, Works and Barbie Bosco ran a half-marathon the day prior, in order to get a special, gold “Goofy” medal given only to finishers of both events.
“Running with my mother is always an adventure, before and after the race mostly,” Barbie Bosco laughed. “And the journey — just getting there is always interesting.”
She is a 1980 graduate of Natrona County High School and lives in Vernon Hills, Ill., with her three children and dog. The Disney was her 12th marathon.
This is the fourth marathon she has run with her mother. They also ran the Los Angeles, Pikes Peak and Green Bay marathons together — the latter in honor of their late father and husband, Larry Works, who was raised in the Green Bay, Wis., area.
“Mom started first,” Bosco said. “I thought if she can do it (run 26 miles at once), I can do it.”
Although her mother is a marathon celebrity of sorts (she’s competed in 19 marathons on three continents over 15 years), Bosco said the mother-daughter aspect of the event is never lost on her.
“Being at the finish line together is very moving,” she said. “I get choked up every time she finishes.”
Works maintains she was luckier than usual in Florida, finishing just ahead of a cutoff time for “stragglers” in 7 hours-plus.
“I stopped for so many pictures and was messing around so much that it’s lucky I finished,” Works said.

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