The day began cool and overcast, almost perfect for the run Debra Horn had before her: Arizona’s 48-hour Across the Years endurance race.
Then the sprinkles started. It was innocent enough, until the rain intensified and just wouldn’t stop. Horn, who has represented the U.S. four times in the World 24-Hour Championships, tried every clothes combination to get comfortable: long-sleeve T-shirt, jacket, T-shirt and vest, hat. But nothing seemed to strike the right balance.
By then, the course had turned into a muddy mess. It’s a monsoon, she thought. This is miserable, cold, wet, all this mud. What am I doing? When she realized the runaway train her thoughts were on, Horn interrupted. Suck it up, Debbie, she chided. Quit whining! You’re paying to do this. This is fun. Have some fun!
And she did, even when the second day brought strong winds and freezing temperatures. Running in the mud caused large bruises on the tops of both feet. None of it stopped her. Not until the partner at Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis had logged 183 miles over the two days to win the women’s division and finish second overall.
Growing up on a rural Wisconsin dairy farm, Horn was attracted to anything that provided a challenge. When they moved from the farm, she became a school whirlwind, playing French horn and piano and participating in basketball, volleyball, softball, speech and debate, drama, and choir.
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LIFE LESSONS
⊲ I believe that in the long-run, you only hit what you aim at, so it’s good to aim high.
⊲ I would hope that I am viewed as an attorney who has sought to advance leadership skills of women attorneys and to remove barriers to women’s success in the law.
⊲ If you have a good idea, implement it; don’t ask for permission.
⊲ There is a famous quote that “success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” I believe that. Don’t be afraid to fail. Failure is part of learning and innovation and ultimately success.
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“On the weekends during the summer, we swam in the Mississippi River, camped or canoed,” she says. “The winters were more challenging, but we would find a frozen pond and ice skate.”
But she yearned for a big city experience and headed off to college at the University of Minnesota. “I wanted to have the opportunity to meet all different types of people and be exposed to different ideas,” she says.
Eventually, she was drawn to the law. “I realized that this would be a career that forced me to keep learning new things,” she recalls. “It would never be boring. It would be a constant mental challenge.”
During her career, she’s served as a law clerk for the 12th District Court of Appeals, and worked as a litigator at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey and then at Climaco, Lefkowitz. In 2002, Horn joined Meyers, Roman, the largest female-owned and -managed law firm in Northeast Ohio.
It’s not surprising that colleagues call her the go-to for young lawyers who need advice and encouragement. “Regardless of whether you are starting your first legal trial or running your first 100-mile race, it is easy to have self-doubt and lack confidence,” Horn says. “I like to make myself available to be a sounding board and give younger people support to achieve their goals.”
Her dedication to women in the field extends beyond her firm, as Horn has served as president of both the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations and the Ohio Women’s Bar Association. She’s also active in the National Association of Women Business Owners, through which she offers 25 years of legal and business experience.
“Perhaps most telling of all about Deb is her desire to serve without fanfare,” says Anne Meyers, a partner at the firm. “All of her activities — professional, community and charitable — are done under the radar for the sake of accomplishment, not glory.”
That doesn’t mean her work isn’t appreciated, though. In 2009, she co-founded a fundraising effort for the Epilepsy Association dubbed the Virtual Runner. During the 13-week campaign, participants solicit donations based on a race mileage goal. Horn set her benchmark at 200 miles and recruited other participants from the running community. It added up to more than $40,000 in new money directly because of the Virtual Runner campaign.
“Over the last two years, she has been generous with her time, money and leadership talent,” says Kelley Needham, executive director of the Epilepsy Association.
Maybe that’s because Horn is more concerned with the challenge than the accomplishment. When she first decided to try ultrarunning, it was because she passed a booth about it at a runner’s expo. That’s impossible, she first thought. But that thought morphed into, I wonder if I could do that.
“In a way,” Horn remembers, “it was like a dare to myself.”