Running is my saving grace. I have been running races every year since 1989, from 5Ks to marathons to ultramarathons (except for 2009 due to the inability to walk and run normally due to an undiagnosed myelopathy of the spinal cord due to severe B12 deficiency. My body doesn’t produce enough natural B12 to make the myelin sheath around my spinal cord). I have been running ultramarathons since 2005 – 50 milers, 100 milers, 12-hr, 24 hr, and multi-day ultras. I am training for my 33rd ultra. I will turn 64 years young in January. Age is just a number as long as you keep moving, putting one foot in front of the other. I do not let health challenges, my own or my husband’s health challenges, prevent me from running ultra miles. I run in sickness and in health. I am a runner who ran with EoE (eosinophilic esophagitis – a rare autoimmune disease of the esophagus). After 26 years of suffering with EoE, and when medicine could not, I healed myself with my own diet of eliminating preservatives, additives, food coloring, steroids, hormones, pesticides and eating only cage-free, free-range, grass-fed, and organic foods. I am also a published author, freelance writer, book reviewer, interviewer, blogger, national parks hiker, climber, gardener, knitter, and acrylic painter.
Miriam Gilbert
