Cheryl Splain re-fueling during the Mohican 100 miler at the aid station in June 2009.

Cheryl Splain
Fitness Advisory Team Member

A 1977 graduate of Centerburg, Cheryl's running career started in high school. She ran her first marathon in 1982, and has completed 17 since then, in addition to numerous 5-milers, 5Ks, 20Ks and half marathons. Running her first ultra ultramarathon in 2006, she now has 11 of them under her belt.

Describing herself as a mid- to back-of-the-pack runner, Cheryl says she got
into ultra running "because you can walk the uphills."

"But there's nothing better than being out on a trail when the sun's coming up," she says. She loves to travel, and uses her running as an excuse to go different places and see new sights.

"My ultimate goal is to do the 50-states thing," she says. "Or at least the 48 contiguous in the U.S."

So far, she's run a marathon or ultra in nine states; Washington, D.C; and Canada.

Life motto: "My life is a gift to me from my creator. What I do with my life is my gift back to my creator." Quote from Olympian Billy Mills.

Running motto: "I'm a lifetime runner." It's hard to deal with an injury, or when life's events get in the way of what you want to do. But when you're a lifetime runner, it's easier to put things in perspective if you have to take time off for some reason, or if a particular race doesn't go the way you anticipated.