DALLAS — As Angela Tortorice was running her first marathon, a thought was running through her mind.
“I’ll never do this again,” she laughed.
Twenty-five years later, she’s come a long way.
Angela, who works as an accountant for TXU Energy, not only ran another marathon, she’s run a marathon in every state.
Five times.
She runs so many marathons, she doesn’t even take time off when she takes time off.
“My vacation time is used for marathoning,” Tortorice laughed. “It’s not used for anything else.”
Because of that, in 2013, Tortorice set the Guinness World Record by running 129 marathons in one year.
However, even that pales in comparison to the finish line she’s about to cross.
This weekend at the Irving Marathon, Tortorice will complete her 1,000th marathon, becoming the first American woman to accomplish that feat.
What would drive someone to run so much?
“When I started running it was around the time my former husband was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and so I thought, I’ve got to do something to benefit my health,” Tortorice said. “It does just help you cope so much through difficult times.”
Because running has helped her, she wants it to help others.
Through marathons, Tortorice has helped raise more than a million dollars to fight multiple sclerosis, which is way more important than any world record.
“It would be nice if part of my legacy was just to make a difference in finding a cure for multiple sclerosis,” she said. “It would mean a great deal to me to actually see that happen.”
She’s run 1,000 marathons and she’ll run 1,000 more because she’s in it for the long run.