United States: Obese woman completes her first marathon and wows everyone

Three years ago, a woman suffering from obesity took on an important challenge that was close to her heart: she completed her first marathon to her delight.

Her name may not mean anything to you, but Jennifer Smith is a real fighter. While fighting against her excess weight, the young woman - then aged 33 - completed her first marathon.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Smith

An injury changes his life

The daily life of this American rocked in 2013 when she found herself immobilized for three months due to an injury. Result: the latter gained a lot of weight. Once cured, she decided to take control of her life and take up running. Initially, the 173 kilograms struggled to find her rhythm, but the workouts allowed her to improve.

In an interview with Runner's World magazine, she explains that her determination has had a positive impact on others. Through her courage, she inspired other overweight people and family members to take up running: “ My dad always told me I could do whatever I wanted, and if I ran a marathon he would try to be there to cheer me on. “, she explained to the specialized site.

Photo credit: Jennifer Smith

This conversation pushed her to take on a daunting challenge: to become the heaviest woman in the world to complete a marathon . To do this, she set her sights on the Clinton Marathon (Iowa), after getting the green light from her doctor. She then contacted Guinness World Records to tell them about her project.

An inspiring woman

Once this stage was complete, the countdown began, and Jennifer trained extremely hard to achieve her goal. The sudden death of her father which occurred a few months before the race was a source of motivation for the runner.

With that in mind, she found herself at the start line at 4 a.m. on July 11, 2019, surrounded by a crowd of 80 runners, all eager to get started. Jennifer, meanwhile, was not so confident. But her negative thoughts disappeared as soon as the race started.

Photo credit: Jennifer Smith

« Shortly after mile 20 the blisters hurt and I wasn't sure if I was going to continue “, she explained. ' But I thought of my father. He always showed me that I could do whatever I wanted, so I rolled my eyes and knew he was watching me. I couldn't let go. I couldn't disappoint him ».

Armed with her 157 kilograms and her mind of steel, Jennifer managed to complete her first marathon. Her inspiring story shows that anything is possible, provided you want to believe in it.

Photo credit: Jennifer Smith