Athlete of the Week: Donna Loud

Donna Loud has only been running for a few years, but already she has become hooked on the sport and is now an avid runner who loves doing marathons. At 49, Loud retired from the postal service and began training with a running coach when she “couldn’t even run down to the end of the driveway.”

Loud, a member of the national organization Marathon Maniacs, recently achieved 10-star Maniac status, which requires completing 30 marathons in 365 days. But her biggest goal overall is to run a marathon in every state, which she hopes to complete in a few months.

What is the best part about running for you?
The best part of running for me is running long and slow. I’m not fast, I’m always in the back of the pack, but I enjoy the scenery of everywhere I’m going.

What is the hardest part?
Hanging in there when you know you’re really tired and really spent but just hanging in there and keep running and running and running.

What would you like to improve?
I would really like to improve my time. My marathon running is about five-and-a-half hours now, and I used to run them in just under five hours. I’d like to get faster, but the probability of that is not too good right now.

What is your favorite thing about doing marathons?
It gives me the opportunity to visit each and every state and find a destination and go touring and find something unique about each individual state; it also helps me meet up with people I know. I pretty much know someone in every state, and I’ve been able to merge running with visiting and touring.

Contact Rachel S. O’Hara at [email protected]