Anyone who knew her as a young girl knew that Martha Hudson Pennyman was going to be a dynamite runner. In eighth grade, she won the district meet in the 50-,75- and 100-yard dashes in Fort Valley, Ga. At 15, Pennyman attended Ed Temple's summer clinic and won three events at an Oklahoma meet. She also set a girls' record in the 50-and 100-yard dashes at the National AAU meet in Philadelphia. She and three of her teammates set a record to win the relay at the Pan Am Games in Chicago, a prelude to winning the 4 x 100-meter relay at the Olympics in Rome in1960, where the women set a new world record time of 44.3 seconds. Pennyman was inducted into the Tennessee Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1986. Currently, she teaches at Upson Lee North Elementary School in Thomaston, Ga.
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