Resilient Sherry Ricker Running her 100th Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in Vegas

Sherry Ricker has overcome a lot in recent years, but she's never stopped running. Photo: MarathonFoto

Fifteen years ago, Sherry Ricker was a 5-foot-2, 190-pound couch potato who decided that her bucket list should include running a marathon. Six months and 60 fewer pounds later, she crossed that item off her list, finishing the Dublin Marathon in 4 hours, 23 minutes.

“More than anything, what I remember about the experience,” recalls Ricker, “is that I inspired a lot of other people to do some crazy stuff.”

She could have said she inspired people to do “some very meaningful stuff.” Motivated by Ricker’s lead, many others started running and were moved to change their lives for the positive. One woman left even her abusive husband.

Ricker, 46, who lives in Austin, Texas, and works as a CPA, kept on running races, even amid other challenges in her life. In 2008, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, underwent a single mastectomy and five days after surgery was training with her running group.

“I didn’t want my life to be different,” Ricker says.

Come late Sunday evening, Ricker will cross the Geico Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon finish line under the Strip’s bright lights and complete her 100th Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series event.

RELATED: Snoop Dogg Will Headline 2016 Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Races

That’s 100 Rock ‘n’ Roll marathons and half marathons in 15 years, but that span of time also includes hundreds of other races, not to mention thousands of miles in training.

What does it all mean?

“It means, ‘Now what?’” she says. “As a runner, you always want to outdo yourself.”

Ricker will become the fourth person and first woman in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Century Club, joining Joe Harris, Kevin Gonzalez and Al Hernandez.

RELATED: Hernandez Runs 100th Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series Race

Like many people who start running, Ricker faced plenty of challenges before becoming a regular runner, not to mention plenty of unknowns. In 2001, at 5-2, 190 pounds, she began her quest by walking in workouts. There was a lot of minor aches and pains and a lot fatigue.

“It took me a little over a month to get to the point where I was running enough to call in a mile,” she says.

But once she got into and was consistent with her training, something clicked. She started reaping the benefits of improved fitness and better energy.

However, after six months of training, the 9/11 terrorists attacks happened and the charity Ricker was running for wasn’t sure it wanted runners flying to Dublin. That put her entire life-changing endeavor in jeopardy for a bit, but, fortunately, it all worked out.

“Even when we got there, it was scary,” says Ricker, who had never been outside the United States.

Her couch-to-marathon feat inspired other women to run.

“The whole thing was a complete growing experience,” she says.

She was consumed by the clock for a while, logging a 3:48 personal best.

 As you might imagine, Ricker’s cancer scare impacted her life in many ways.

 “I was never afraid of dying,” she says. “For some reason, that didn’t scare me.”

Rather than staying fixated on times, she became obsessed with the running experience, running more races, traveling, meeting people.

“Being able to get out there and walk, run, do stuff, it kept me in the right frame of mind,” she says.

Not surprisingly for a CPA, Ricker keeps meticulous records of her running. Try these numbers:

·      93 marathons;

·      139 half marathons;

·      374 lifetime races;

·      5,120 miles of racing;

·      7 half marathons in 7 states across 8 days;

·      2 marathons in one weekend.

Asked the esoteric question, what does Ricker like most about running?

“Nothing about the actual running,”Ricker admits. “I enjoy meeting people and seeing new places. What I tell people who ask why I do what I do, I say, ‘There’s no better way to see a city than 26.2 miles on foot.’”

She ranks Liverpool, England, and Vancouver, British Columbia, as two of her favorite international Rock ‘n’ Roll visits.

“You’re running along the sea wall,” she says of Vancouver. “A lot of the course is on a bike path along the waterway. You get to see the city skyline in the backdrop. It was very pretty.”

Virginia Beach and Savannah, Ga., rank high on her U.S. stops.

“I love the Savannah neighborhoods,” she says.

Like many Rock ‘n’ Roll regulars, she clings to the bling.

“The medals are the things I save,” she says.

RELATED: The 2016 Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas  Finisher Medal Spins and Glows

There was a time when she hung them in her office.

“When it became obnoxious,” she says, “I started keeping them at home.”

She installed an 8-foot by 4-foot peg board on one of her bedroom walls. Some 400 medals hang from the wall.

Asked how it makes her feel to look at the medals, Ricker, who beat cancer, who in races alone has logged enough miles to jog from Los Angeles to New York and back, says: “It’s definitely a sense of accomplishment.”

VIDEO: Time-Lapse Video of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon Finish Line

The post Resilient Sherry Ricker Running her 100th Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in Vegas appeared first on Competitor.com.