Why you should know her: Last year, this elfin photographer and artist challenged herself to run one marathon in each of the 50 United States, plus Washington, D.C., within 52 weeks. Starting with Georgia’s Callaway Gardens Marathon on Jan. 30, 2011, she finished last month with Nevada’s Running From an Angel. Barron, 31, ran more than 1,336 miles, mostly 26.2 at a time (although she did a 50-kilometer trail run and a half-marathon in Denver). A relative newbie marathon runner — her first marathon was four years ago — she employs the Galloway Method (run five minutes, walk one minute). Her project raised nearly $20,000 for First Descents, a Colorado nonprofit that takes young adult cancer patients and survivors on outdoor adventures.
Q: What do your toes look like?
A: They’re good, actually! I only had a few black toenails in the beginning, and then after that, none, really.
Q: What do you carry with you when you run?
A: In my bag, I have little flasks, not huge water bottles, with my running drink. Then I have a pocket with my camera, ibuprofen, salt tablets, a drink tablet, my iPod and business cards, because a lot of people ask me about my First Descents project when I run.
Q: What do you think about when you’re running?
A: If there’s scenery, I look at that and take pictures. I talk with people. I zone out to music. A lot of my iPod songs have a certain cadence, but it’s a huge variety: country, old rock ‘n’ roll, and one or two musicals. I have a few songs from “Wicked” and one that was by accident from “Sound of Music,” because it happened to be in the correct cadence, “I Am 16 Going on 17.”
Claire Martin: 303-954-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com
