… love the outdoors and a passion about the challenges that long distance running brings.
Valerio was not always an avid runner. In 2009, she weighed more than 300 pounds. She says she often suffered from sharp chest pains, signs that led her doctor to issue her a blunt warning: She would not live to see her young son grow up if she didn’t lose weight. That scare set her in motion on to the path where she finds herself today.
She took up running. Getting on the treadmill for that first mile, she says, was slow and painful. It took her 17 minutes, 45 seconds (side note: the average slow runner usually runs a mile within 12-13 minutes). But, within the course of the next six to seven months, she lost 41 pounds.
Miles don’t phase Valerio now. She says she craves the physical, emotional, and mental challenges of getting through a 26.2 mile marathon — a physical feat hardly matched in all of sports.
The now 40-year-old also ran the Javelina Jundred, an annual 100k race in the Arizona desert. Despite the impressive mileage she clocks, her weight remains mostly stable.
“When people think of a runner, they usually think of slim, maybe muscular, athletic…and I’m none of those. And I’m okay with that.”