CRESTVIEW — While many locals used Labor Day weekend to relax, tend their yards or cook out with family and friends, Mary Valdez went for a run.
A 100-mile run, which she did in slightly over 25 hours, beating everybody else except for three men and trimming almost four hours off her previous time.
The third annual Wildcat 100 Ultramarathon at the Escambia County Equestrian Center in Pensacola started Sept. 3, with 17 finishers out of 49 who began the race completing the run over the next two days.
“It’s hard to believe she ran 100 miles in just over 25 hours,” her boss, Gordon Martial Arts owner Tom Gordon, said. “The next female came in over eight hours later. So Mary didn’t just win, she dominated!”
“She did quite a number there,” race director Ben Pangie said.
REST TIME
Pangie said some of the runners who originally planned to complete the 100 miles “dropped down” during the race and placed in the weekend’s 100- or 50-kilometer races.
Some runners took time to rest during the race, which involved 40 laps around the 5-kilometer, or 2.5-mile, course. But not Valdez.
“You’re allowed 40 hours to do it,” she said. “You could rest if you wanted to, but that would reflect on your time.”
Valdez said she started running more than six years ago.
“I ran my first marathon in March 2010 and I hated it,” she said. “I said I never wanted to do that again. But that didn’t last very long.”
When not running marathons, Valdez is a probationary hapkido black belt, anticipating receiving the belt in December. She trains at Gordon Martial Arts, where she also serves as a receptionist.
FITNESS FIRST
Running and martial arts are part of Valdez's physical fitness regimen, which she plans to share with kids. She currently studies elementary education at Northwest Florida State College, aiming for a fall 2018 graduation.
“I plan to get my physical education certificate so I can teach PE,” she said.
Next, Valdez has her sights set on the January 2017 Bear Bait Ultra in Milton. Last year she finished that 50-mile race in nine hours, 59 minutes, coming in fourth overall and first in the women’s division.
For new runners interested in marathons, Valdez offered advice based on her personal experience.
“Stick with it, it gets easier,” she said. “A lot of time people think, ‘I just can’t run.’ Start slowly. You can do it.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview runner ‘dominated’ 100-mile run