2018 Inspiring People of the Year Raul Santana

67 Years Young Over 640 Marathons and still Running Strong

Hello friends, let me tell you how I gained my passion for running. I'm Mexican, born in Guadalajara JAL. I remember in my childhood I was very hyper. I was a trouble maker, and it caused my mother a lot of headaches. I remember once I watched my mother kill chickens to make a chicken soup and I, at only 6 years old, killed my grandmother's favorite parrot to make “chicken soup”. Well, she almost had a heart attack. I also remember riding a horse. At one point I rode it at such a high speed the horse threw me off and dropped me, causing me to fracture two lumbar. I learned my lesson and I stopped my mischief for the remainder of my childhood.

When I was 20 years old, I noticed that I was passionate about walking long distances, but I did not like running. Well years later, I started working for the Red Cross as a volunteer, which helped me explore the world, visiting several Central American countries and sending me to elementary schools, to vaccinate children of ages 6 and 7 years old. I remember having vaccinated many children in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala against Poliomyelitis and Smallpox. In the mid-70s I was sent to Peru in a humanitarian support coverage group to help the victims of a strong earthquake. While there, I found a large group of athletes and some of them did long distance walking and others were marathon runners. One of them had won the London Marathon and I believe other marathons. This is where I found a love for running.

After my humanitarian support to the victims of the city of Lima, I was invited by that group of athletes to walk 150 kms in three days, at Lake Titicaca in southern Peru. I accepted, on the condition that I would just walk, because I had never run in my life. The first day we walked 50 km in 10 hours, the next day another 50 and finished another 50 on the third day. While back in the city of Lima, the guy who had won the London marathon suggested that we visit the Machu Pichu Cuzco. He asked if I would accompany them, and I told them YES, however, I would only do walking. They looked at me, laughed, and said of course! Three days later we went with the group to Cuzco. Then, the following day, extremely early at 5:00 am, we went with a bigger group of people to Machu Pichu. All of them were very athletic, except me, I was very skinny. It was cold, dark and I was very afraid, yet I was there ready to face the Inca trail. I remember I was carrying a heavy hand lamp, a backpack with two bananas, some oranges and a bottle of water, and my fears.

We began to climb the trail. Almost every single person began running, I didn’t want to stay behind in a place I did not know, so I began to run behind them. It was dark, no sunlight, and I could not keep up. Eventually, I was left behind with no one in sight. After a few hours I reached the top with my empty backpack. I had eaten my fruit but left my fears behind. Once I reached the Ruins, I seen the guy who had won the London marathon. He was wet, fatigued and coughing. I asked him “Where is the group?” He responded “You’re the first one behind me.” He looked at me very surprised. I was in shock, just enjoying the beauty of the archaeological zone and Ruins. He continued to stare at me, with a surprised look on his face and laughing. He then told me, while pointing his index finger at my chest, “You have to run Marathon”. I then asked him “How many kilometers is a marathon?” Immediately he told me “42:195” Those words stayed in my head. When I returned to Mexico and the United States, I was curious to begin running. I prepared myself in distance and speed. I then went to run the Mexico marathon and achieved a time of 2:42. With time and more races, I exceeded that record, but I never achieved a third place much less a first one. I then ran some marathons to be able to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I ran a few more marathons in Boston. I also ran in New York, Chicago, San Diego, Honolulu, Canada, France and even some in Mexico, but never won any!

In the 80s I began running Ultras. I was one of the very few Latinos in these races. I started to meet many American friends, which always supported me, and I loved running the Ultras with them. This was the beginning of my addiction to running Marathons. I began running more and more marathons. My friends told me I was crazy and that I needed mental help, because they saw me in many marathons. I began to feel ashamed that I was running numerous marathons, that I even began hiding it from them. As the years passed I continued to run, but my age caught up to me.

I'm about to turn 68 years old. My speed has dwindled down some, along with some of my reflexes. Currently I hold a record of 640 Marathons and Ultras. With 12 Ultras of 100 miles, many of 100 kms, 50 miles, 50 kms and the others of pure marathon. I was never attracted to running small races, just Marathons and up. I recall running two half marathons and did not like it. It’s about to be 43 years that I have been running races. Within that time, I have had major knee surgeries and almost lost a leg. I ignored the surgeon's orders and returned to running marathons. I have a large room of medals and awards, but for me, the most important thing is not the medals, it is the great family of friends that I have gained in these 42 years of running. 

If you ask me if I have met success, I’ll tell you I've never met him, but if you know where it is, please lead me to it.  One thing I can tell you, is the perseverance and tenacity can lead you to achieve your goals.  I will also tell you that it is good to dream, but get up to grab those dreams and make hem come true.  
-Your friend Raul Santana 

2018 Inspiring People of the Year Sandy Gage

Sandy has Run over 100 Marathons and on 7 Continents

I would never of thought after running the 100 yard dash in Catholic Elementary School or Cross Country in HS that I would find myself running so many marathons around the World. My husband and I were pretty busy raising four kids actively involved in Soccer, football, hockey and snowboarding!!! 

My Family 

Fast forward to 2009 and I ran into the IERC running club, yep running around my neighborhood in Chino Hills, I was invited to join and ran my first marathon San Diego Rock n Roll June 2009. I met so many awesome runners like yourself Yolanda that motivated and inspired me one mile at a time.   

 Great Wall of China Marathon

I started the 7 Continents and finished the goal in 2015 running Antarctica along with another goal of running the 6 World Majors which I completed running the Berlin marathon in September 2016. 

My 100th marathon was April 2018 with a 100 miler belt buckle which encouraged me to keep on going.

100 Mile Buckle

 I’m almost finished with running around the World again and I’ve finished 21 of the 50 States. I plan on completing the 50 States by early 2020 with no thoughts of slowing down. There’s a big World out there to see and I’m on an adventure to savor every mile I can. 

My fountains of youth to take me to the next generation of running with these cuties. Stay tuned for some future 1K and 5K kiddie runs.

-Sandy

2018 Inspiring People of the Year Sopan Tzekov

It Took Him 12 Years and 5 Unsuccessful Attempts at the 

3100 Mile Race

This year I was able to complete the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 mile race for the 3rd time. I run 3100 miles for 51 days, 16 hours, 46 min or just under 60 miles per day. This race is the world’s longest certified ultra marathon and has a strict cut-off time of 52 days. It is considered one of the world’s toughest endurance challenges and called “the Mount Everest of ultra marathons” by the New York Times.

About the race. Founded by Indian meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy  https://www.srichinmoy.org/  who is also my Guru the race is inspired by his philosophy of “Self-Transcendence” or as Sri Chinmoy says “We are all truly unlimited if we only dare to try and have faith” he also says “If we live in the heart there is no such thing as impossibility”.

The race starts every morning at 6 am and ends at midnight for 52 consecutive days. The race course is .54-mile loop and to complete the distance the runners have to run more then 5600 times around a concrete surface block in Queens, New York in the middle of summer with temperatures often over 90 and 100 F. 

My story. This year was special in my 17-year long multi day running career because I was able to complete the 3100 mile race for the first time in 12 years and after 5 unsuccessful attempts.

My race history: http://sopan.run/complete-race-history/     

I have had many experiences during these years most of them physically painful and full of struggle but always fulfilled with profoundly rewarding inner experiences. To me the multi day running and especially the 3100 mile race are all about the inner experience of meditation and self-discovery. To me running is a form of meditation and a way to get in touch with something deeper, most fulfilling and joyful, something that helps me discover who I truly am and I feel that this process of self-discovery is a very intimate and precious experience.

I am still considering my most physically challenging race, the 2014 3100 mile race, running 2,268 miles, including 40 days of very slow walking with hip/sciatic injury and multiple off-race course doctor visits, the race with the best inner experience!

I feel that the physical challenge is essential in bringing to the fore the best within us, the spirit of Self-Transcendence that we are capable of much more then we can imagine. This inner spirit inspires me to keep running forward and never give up.

So after years of physical struggle and inner self-discovery, this year I came to the 3100 mile race with no expectation, I was just happy be there and be part of this unique race one more time. My previous experience had given me a completely new, fresh and very positive attitude toward the race, I had more peace of mind. I feel that the most important thing for this race is to learn to establish your own peace of mind and be as much as possible harmonious with yourself.

Almost everything that I did this year in preparation for the race and during the race was completely different then previous years.

For example:

I trained for a whole year with zero drop running shoes including 6 months of using a minimal zero drop shoe as an every day walking shoe which lead to improving my running stile, balance and strength;

I used compression during the race, during the day but more importantly full compression tights every night. To give you an idea how effective sleeping with compression tights proved to be, I didn’t need massage even once for 3100 miles! I never had sore legs in the morning or during the day!

I used 2 extra insoles inside my shoes to counter the hard concrete surface;

I walked maybe 25% of the race which helped tremendously for rebalancing and loosening hip stress;

I was supplementing a lot of Sulfur 3 months before the race and a lot more during the race which I think was essential with decreasing muscle soreness, increasing energy levels, detoxifying and strengthening connecting tissues;

Last but not least for the first time during the race I would do daily supporting exercises that help with hip balance, core and upper body strength. After weeks of running 60 miles per day, 18 hours a day on concrete surface the upper body and core muscles becomes weaker, it only makes sense to exercise them during the race sometimes even on lap to lap bases. As a result I visited a chiropractor at the race only 2 times during the first 10 days. It was amazing to see how simple daily exercises can completely replace the need of chiropractor!

I dedicate my race to Sri Chinmoy with gratitude for his blessings and inspiration!

-Sopan Tzekov

Bulgarian national champion record holder for all races—10 days and all distances from 700 miles, 1,000 miles, 1,300 miles all the way up to 3,100 miles and 5,000 km. He continues to hold the record as the youngest person in the world to run 3,100 miles in 51 days at the age of 24. At the age of 22, he was also the youngest person in the world to run 700 miles in 12 days.

http://sopan.run

2018 Inspiring People of the Year Eric Duncan

Running for Life

"I was a teenager trying to figure out who I was like every teenager goes through in their lives. I didn't know who I was going to be. I stopped going to class in high school to hang out with the wrong crowd and joined a gang in Atlanta. I was doing the wrong things until I was incarcerated. I had to reflect on what I was going to do in my life because I couldn't live like that and see my future go down the drain. I went back to school and graduated with a 1.5 grade point average. I couldn't get along with my family so I moved out and went from couch to couch until I was homeless for 9 months. I had a job as a dishwasher working at a local restaurant making $3.35 an hour but my home was sleeping under a table in a pavilion at a neighborhood park taking showers at a gym. I couldn't live like this and told myself I needed to make a change so I join the U.S. Navy. I served in the Navy for 20 years and 21 days and retired from the service.

Running saved my life. When I retired from the U.S. Navy I picked up poor eating habits and ballooned up to 350lbs. One morning I was going to L.A Fitness in College Park and I met an active member of Black Men Run. He had just finished running outside and told me about Black Men Run and that their group runs were every Monday at Grant Park. Well, I met the founders and have never stopped running with the group. Since that time, I have finished 12 half marathons and countless 5 and 10ks. I have also lost 90lbs, feel better than even and I was selected as co-captain of the local chapter. I have retired from road racing and picked up a new obsession which is run streaking. What happened was I would usually run about 5 days a week. Accidentally in November of 2016 I started to go for a run before Veterans Day but it landed on my rest day so I kept running and 7 days became 10, 30, 50, 100. Now I have run 2 to 5 miles every day since November 18th. Today I am still running to continue my streak which is 753 days straight.

I was attending a church in Atlanta and they had a bread ministry. The primary mission of the bread ministry is to give to the homeless, needy and less fortunate through the church. I took it upon myself to take over the bread ministry and going out into the streets of Atlanta giving to the homeless men, women and children. I go to different missions throughout Atlanta and the surrounding areas and give free food and clothes to anyone who is down on their luck and homeless. I give to the homeless because I was once in that place of not having a home and I understand what they are going through".

-Eric

2018 Inspiring People of the Year AJ Mitchell

Keep Dreaming and Smiling

So my story starts off with me having Spina Bifida and being paralyzed from my waist down. I have never ever let that hold me back though. I have played every sport known to man lol, my favorites were baseball and basketball when I was younger.  

I was the only wheelchair player on a baseball team for close to 15 years. I started racing wheelchairs when I was about 9 racing other disabled athletes in 100 and 200 meter races.

I really wanted to continue my basketball career but in 2009 I had to undergo a kidney transplant and they advised me to stay away from close contact sports that's when I found marathon racing.  In 2012 I entered my first 5k, 2013 my first half Marathon 3 that year then in 2014 I stepped it up to Full Marathons.

Now 4 years later I am 10 Full Marathons and about 15 Half Marathons into my Career, I am enjoying every moment. My dream is to reach the Boston Marathon and the Paralympics. I come from a pretty competitive family work ethic, and I think I got the larger work ethic out of my family to push hard and do my best.

My favorite motto is "Challenge me and I will succeed". 
-A.J.

2018 Inspiring People of the Year Theresa Myers

From Surviving Trauma to the Happiest Place on Earth

I grew up in the Bay Area of California where I was always an active child and was in decent shape. I had been taking ballet lessons for a few years before I got into competitive figure skating where I spent roughly 4 years practicing 7 days a week. I was forced to hang up my skates after fracturing my spine, so I dedicated myself even more to a nonprofit community service organization called, the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls. During my time as an active member I made life long friends, all of whom I consider family. I also learned many valuable lessons that helped shaped me into the person that I am today. Prior to aging out, I had been awarded the highest honor the organization can give to its members, in addition to being appointed to serve as a State Officer. 

 One thing that remained constant was my love of cars, and some of my fondest memories are those where I spent time watch my Dad fix them and sometimes I even got to help. It had been my dream to become the first female Crew Chief in NASCAR (though I started out wanting to be a driver), so in 2005 I took a big risk and moved across the country where I had no friends or family, to pursue my dream. I enjoyed college, but I had some rough semesters because I was silently dealing with the trauma and psychological effects after surviving an assault. I used fitness classes that were offered at the university as a way of coping with the anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Being in a male dominated field didn’t help matters much, and I also face a lot of discrimination because of it, though surprisingly the discrimination came from outside the College of Engineering.

There was one Professor in particular who wrote tests for a 2 hour class, even though the class was only 50 minutes. I think only one student the entire semester finished each test. After handing in the last test before the final he asked me what my major was, and I proudly told him that it was Mechanical Engineering. He then told me that I did not have what it takes to become an engineer, to which I responded “You’re wrong. Just watch me!” I used that statement as fuel to push forward in my studies. Becoming an engineer was a dream, but I had even more drive because I wanted to prove that Professor wrong. The day finally came, and I walked across that stage with the biggest smile. I had achieved my dream, and in the process had proven all the naysayers wrong.

Working in NASCAR as a Crew Chief was something that I thought I was meant to do, after all it had been on my heart long enough. The Lord had other plans and kept pulling me towards the corporate world and the energy production sector, where I got my first job. I was so happy to get the call with the job offer, and was excited to start a new chapter. While at that company, I met a fellow fan of the BBC show, Doctor Who, (I had a tumbler from the show, so it was a perfect ice breaker). We had an instant connection and within a week or two of knowing each other, we started planning a trip to London. Through some of our conversations, I had learned that she taught herself English by reading the Harry Potter books. I had never caught onto the craze when the books first came out, but I wanted to have more to talk about. So I ordered a set of the books, and when they arrived I was hooked after the first sentence. I had been a normal, able-bodied person (with only a few flare ups of some muscle spasms in my back), when that all changed a few months later.

On March 14, 2014, roughly 5 months before my trip to London, I was rear-ended on the shoulder of a freeway. All of the energy from the impact got transferred to me from the way I was hit. I was in pain immediately, but I had no idea just how bad it would get. I had gone to a few doctors to try and figure out what exactly happened to my back in the accident, but they really couldn’t find any answers, so I was started on steroid injections into my spine. The goal of the injections was to help reduce some of the inflammation that was going on, and sometimes it helped and sometimes it didn’t. Thankfully the injections I had before I left for London worked, and I was able to enjoy the trip.

A month or two prior to the trip, I had come across an article that was posted on Facebook by Runner’s World, and it was about a Harry Potter themed virtual running club, now called Potterhead Running Club (PHRC). Being relatively new to the Harry Potter fandom, I was very excited and sent the link to my friend and signed up for my first virtual race, the Department of Mysteries 6.2442k. That race benefited the Brotherhood Ride which is a group of Police Officers, Firefighters, and EMTs that ride bikes to honor those who died in the line of duty and to help the families that were left behind. That race raised $62,500 for the Brotherhood Ride. I didn’t think I would be able to register for the first 3 races that I missed, but my friend had a surprise in store for me when I flew down to Florida to visit her for her birthday. She got me registered for the 3 races that I missed, and surprised me each day at Disney World with a printed out race bib for that particular race. She pushed me around in a wheelchair all over Disney World property for over 12 miles, without complaint. She has always been there to help me when I needed it the most. 

My Amazing Friend Sandra

Through my involvement in PHRC, I have met amazing and inspirational people from all over the world. I was able to serve as a lead admin for one of the subgroups before moving on to an overall admin type role to help with Direct Impact Projects for PHRC and the two other sister clubs under the Random Tuesday Inc. umbrella. In the nearly 5 years since its inception, PHRC has raised over $2million to various charity partners, walked/ran/biked/wheeled over 8 million miles, and donated the following through the Direct Impact Projects: 5,733 pounds of coffee were sent to the people of Puerto Rico, 17,814 scarves were and 81,611 were donated to the needy, and 1,770,430 bandages were donated to Noah’s Bandage Project. That is a whole lot of good done for a lot of people. One of the many things that I love about PHRC, other than their goal to change the world one mile at a time, is that the encourage everyone regardless of ability to participate in the races. They always say that it is your race at your pace, and for someone like me it was a perfect way to try and get moving more.

Since the accident there have been some incredibly trying days. I didn’t miss too much work because I want to try and work through the pain as best I could. In retrospect, there were several times that I went into the office where I probably shouldn’t have. I had great coworkers who would push me in a wheelchair from my desk and to the bathroom and wheel me out of the building to my Mom who was there to pick me up. On those bad days I could not walk, let alone dress myself or bath myself. During some of the exceptionally bad days, all I could do was scream from the pain and cry myself to sleep. 

My Beautiful Mom

My Mom did everything for me from cutting my food up and feeding me to dressing and bathing me. She did this despite the health issues she was battling, and she sacrificed so much just to take care of me. I really don’t know how she did it. I spent a majority of 2017 in a wheelchair and lost a bit of muscle in my legs. Towards the end of the year, I was able to get a procedure done that numbed some of the nerves, and while it didn’t take care of all of the pain, it took enough away that I was able to function a little better. In January of 2018, the Lord pulled me in another direction and I took another risk and relocated to Florida for work, though this time I had some support already in place. My new company is an amazing place to work and I absolutely love the compassion and understanding they have for those with different abilities and mobility issues.

I finally felt like I could get walking again, and wanted to work back to the 12 minute/mile pace I had been at prior to the accident. I completed 2 5ks in April that were two days apart, and I was emotional after completing the 2^nd one as I did it in memory of my maternal grandparents who were US Navy veterans. Sometime around June I got a crazy idea, and decided to register for the Disney Princess Challenge in addition to registering for the 5k that same weekend. I mostly wanted to get all the medals and cool shirts that came along with it. I wanted to improve my corral placement, so I also signed up for a timed 10k in November. The weekend before the 10k, I completed my first ever Disney race, the Fall Feast 5k, and had beat my 5k time from my two races in April. I had been training since June, but I was still nervous about that 10k because I had never been able to walk that distance in one go. 

Race day came, and the nerves just went away as I was lining up. My main goal was to finish the race regardless of time, but I really wanted to finish in under 2 hours. The race started and I put my headphones on and started listening to my Christian workout playlist. About halfway through, I felt like sitting down and resting for a minute as the trail portions of the race were a bit more challenging than I had anticipated, but I kept on pushing not really aware of how long I had been out there. As I rounded the corner and the finish line was in sight, the tears started flowing. I had done it, and finished my first 10k. The best part was that I finished it in under 2 hours.

I truly felt proud of myself for surviving and battling so much, and to finish my longest race yet. I am so grateful and blessed to have the support of my amazing parents and friends. Though nervous about the Half marathon in 2019, I am looking forward to that weekend and crushing more goals. Even though I have felt like giving up on more than one occasion, when I thought about it, it wasn’t who I was and definitely wasn’t in my DNA. It was always about what was next. I couldn’t do a lot of the things in the same way I used to, but I found different ways to accomplish the same task. One of the many quotes I keep close to my heart is, “What lies before us, and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us.” Never give up and never give in.
-Theresa 

2018 Inspiring People of the Year Annette Fredskov

An ordinary woman - an extraordinary journey

We have a saying in Denmark that goes, the trees do not grow into the sky, meaning that there is an upper limit to everything, and I say NO. I have learned that being realistic sets limitations, and we can do so much more than most people believe. I know in my heart that I can do anything, I believe in and set my mind to. Now, that is how I live my life every day, but it has not always been like that.

When I was younger I had a low self-esteem and I struggled. Seen from the outside I did well, but the inside of me was sometimes a mess, and I was not really aware of the fact, that my life was my responsibility no matter what. I did not see that I always have a choice. That changed. Today I am a happy girl having the time of my life - every day.

The huge change happened ten years ago, a year after I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). At first, I was a good patient and my focus was on being sick. It was like I feed the MS with all my thoughts about illness, fear and limitations, so it grew and got bigger. One day I had enough. It was like I woke up and realized, that I had another choice. I could choose to focus on my options and focus on being as healthy as possible. That day I decided, that no matter what I will start every day making a choice to have the best day possible. I have done that ever since and it has made all the difference in the world. The change of my focus from fear to trust, being 97 percent positive instead of 60 percent, seeing only opportunities and speaking the language of love. Wow, that rocks.

About the same time, I fell in love with running even though I have never been good at sports. When I grew up I tried different kinds of sports, but it never lasted for long. I didn’t belong, and I was definitely not competitive. A couple of years before the MS diagnosis I started running 5-7 kilometers 2-3 times a week. At first, I did not enjoy it, but I did it anyway, because of my two kids. I wanted to be a good example for them and in addition I wanted to exercise to stay healthy and live long.  When I got the MS diagnosis I kept running on my good days, but the doctor said to me to be careful, and then he told me that I could never run a marathon. At first, I believed him, but then I started taking responsibility for my life focusing on positive thinking and being healthy, and as I felt better and better, the thought came to mind: It is my life and my responsibility, and I decide whether or not I can run a marathon, and I decided, I CAN DO IT. So, I set a goal to run Frankfurt Marathon in October 2010, and that was love at first sight. I was so fascinated about my body and mind working together to create the best version of me. I ran 40 marathons the first year and then I got the thought: It would be amazing to run a marathon each day for a year? With the support of my family, friends and people from all over the world, it became a reality. The dream came through. The trees did grow up in the sky. I ran 366 marathons in 365 days. 366 because I ran 2 marathons the last day to make it a great final.

When I crossed the finish line, my only thought was thanks. I was so grateful, and I felt like a part of something bigger. I felt supported by something I could not describe. From that day on spirituality was a part of my life, and today a very important part of my life. It led me to changing my name and right now I am actually doing clairvoyance training. I would never have thought that 10 years ago.   Why I did it – ran 366 marathons in 365 days? Besides from my love for running marathon. Humans can achieve so much more than most people think. To run a marathon every day for an entire year – most people did not believe that was possible, but I believed, and I did it. We are the ones who set the limits for our body with our mind and spirit. I am honored to play a part in breaking these limits, and I will keep doing it. Two years after finishing I ran from Denmark to Paris, France - 1130 kilometres in 19 days. Crazy ideas - I am all in. 24 hours and 172 kilometres on a treadmill was crazy, but possible. I absolutely love it, and that is also why, I am doing it. It makes me happy.

I am just an ordinary woman, who found my inner strength, which I believe we all have. When I can do it, you can do it too. Do what makes you happy. That is what life is all about – being happy. We are all meant to be happy, live happy lives, be surrounded by happy people, doing things that makes us happy. Today I have no symptoms of MS, and I do not take any medication. MS is not a part of my live anymore, and very important, I am not afraid of MS. I have convinced myself, that I am healthy and will stay healthy, and if anything happens, I now know that I have a choice to make the best of the situation no matter what.

Running marathons still makes me happy. I have set a goal to run my marathon number 7oo to Copenhagen Marathon in May 2019. It is also fun to run ultramarathons, and in the future, I want to increase the distance and severity. There is so many great adventures out there. A huge dream for me is Barkley Marathons, maybe the hardest race in the world, and I would love to participate. I saw a documentary about it, and it is unbelievable. So few finish the race, and wouldn’t it be great, if it could be me. 

Most importantly I am the proud mother of Emilie, 17 and Viktor, 15. They believe in my and have supported me all the way. We love adventures and travelling. The summer of 19 will be special with a trip to the US.

Life is amazing and filled with opportunities, if you believe and have faith. I do - and I can do it. So can you.

Love you guys.

Aneste

My first book is translated to English and can be bought on Amazon.  

https://www.amazon.com/366-Marathons-Days-Annette-Fredskov-ebook/dp/B00HDP4R90/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389191641&sr=8-1&keywords=fredskov