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Now she’s truly a “cross-country” runner.
Gloria Linares, 60, achieved something not many people, much less a grandmother of six, can boast — running a marathon in every state.
No. 50 in Anchorage, Alaska, came yesterday.
“I did it! I am so happy. It feels so good,” said Linares after she crossed the finish line in 4 hours and 20 minutes and ran into the embraces of her children.
“Her motto has been ’50 by 60,’ ” beamed granddaughter Ashleigh Deluca, 20.
The retired manicurist from Great Neck, LI, had been loping toward this day since she came to the United States 30 years ago as a single mother from Colombia fleeing an abusive marriage.
Before the diminutive, 5-foot-1 long-distance runner lined up for the start of yesterday’s 26.2-mile “Mayor’s Marathon” in the Land of the Midnight Sun, she got a special boost — her four adult children flew in as a surprise to run part of the race with her.
“I was so happy; I had no idea. When I saw the cameras flashing at the luggage area at the airport, I thought, well, they must be paparazzi, but then I realized it was my children,” Linares laughed.
Daughter Briguitte Barrera, 41, recalled as a kid in the 1980s how her mom “would wake up at the crack of dawn and run around the school track with us, her four kids behind her.”
Even while training a vigorous 10 miles a day, maintaining a low-carb diet with plenty of veggies and fruit, as well as working in a local nail salon, Linares was volunteering at St. Aloysius Catholic Church and North Shore Hospital helping new immigrants.
“I love helping people, especially children,” she said.
But her passion had always been racing with the wind.
“She was born a runner,” Barrera said. “As a little girl, her first race was to win a bottle of Coca-Cola, which she did, and she loved the feeling.”
Linares’ first official race was the New York City Marathon in 1978. “I loved it,” she said. “It’s my favorite.”
Now that she’s completed 1,310 miles in the United States, her new goal is to run on all seven continents. She’s done North and South America and Europe. Next up: Antarctica in 2015.