PENDLETON — Dr. Deborah Woodbury is getting to know her new town by lacing on her running shoes and hitting the streets.

In August, the physician moved to Oregon from Pennsylvania as COVID-19 ramped up. She would spend the next couple of months painting and installing flooring at her new North Hill home, and then start her family practitioner job at Pendleton Family Medicine in the fall. While a pandemic isn’t an ideal time to explore a new town or make friends, she enjoys the company of family who live in Pendleton.

Woodbury frequently visited Pendleton to spend time with her parents, Ron and Melissa Woodbury (both now deceased), and her sister, Sarah Woodbury, brother-in-law, Dan Haug, and their children. Deborah’s two sons, John and Tom, often spent their spring breaks in Pendleton while growing up.

Deborah, a veteran of 16 marathons, usually starts her day with a run. She goes from 5 to 12 miles and incorporates steep hills into her daily workout. She might run up Airport Road and into farm country. Or head up North Main Street, circle back to town, and then run up and down Red Lion Hill to Grecian Heights Park and back home.

This kind of tenacity has qualified Woodbury for six Boston marathons. She’s often on the road before dawn, doing her cool down before most of us have finished our first cup of coffee. Endurance is her gift, not speed, Woodbury said. When prodded, however, she said her personal best is a not-too-shabby 3 hours, 37 minutes.

She takes her runner’s high into the clinic where she works with two other doctors and four physician assistants.

Woodbury seems to have come almost full circle in some ways. She grew up in the Pacific Northwest town of Tumwater, Washington. Her father taught at Evergreen State College in nearby Olympia. She and her younger sister, who are less than a year apart in age, forged a close-knit relationship.

After high school, Woodbury attended Amherst College in Massachusetts, and then medical school at the University of Pennsylvania.

“I decided when I was 8 years old I was going to be a doctor,” she said.

After her residency, she spent 20 years as a family physician for a hospital system in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. The last four years, she worked as medical director for an occupational medicine clinic.

The last couple of years brought changes to Woodbury’s life. Her mother died of cancer, she got divorced and her youngest son headed to college. The lure of family and an urge to get back to family medicine grew strong. She put out feelers for a position in Pendleton.

“Deborah was looking for a change in her life and was interested in relocating to Pendleton. We fit the bill,” said Dr. Jon Hitzman at Pendleton Family Medicine. “Her credentials are stellar. She is well trained and well versed. We’re really glad to have her.”

Woodbury loves being back in family medicine.

“Family practice is pretty awesome,” she said. “I get to know each patient as a whole person.”

Those who matter most to Woodbury are close by. Her son, John, is living at home, taking college classes remotely. Tom will soon start his military posting at Fort Lewis in Washington. She’s got her beloved 12-year-old dog, Goldilox, and she lives close to her sister’s large, nurturing family.

The person happiest about Woodbury’s arrival in Pendleton is likely her sister, Sarah. The siblings nurtured their relationship during 30-plus years living on opposite sides of the country, but now are enjoying as much sisterly togetherness as they want. They live a mere six blocks apart and have a standing weekly lunch date.

Because restaurants aren’t offering dine-in service, the sisters often drive downtown in Sarah’s small RV, find some takeout and enjoy it while sitting inside the camper.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Sarah said. “All those years on opposite coasts, now we get to have lunch every week.”

This story is part of an annual series by the East Oregonian called “Our New Neighbors,” which introduces the community to people who have moved here in the past year.