TAMPA — Mary Ellen Buechel Holbrook remembers her first Gasparilla race in 1983.
She says she hit the wall around the 8-mile mark. “I’m like why did I do this? But then the music from "Rocky" starts playing. And I'm like I can do this. I don’t remember my exact time but I kicked it in.”
Mary Ellen, a nurse at Tampa General Hospital, is now 74 and has dozens of races behind her.
“I’ve done probably 22-23 marathons, two or three ultra marathons, tons of 5Ks- all kinds of stuff.”
And for 40 years she’s run in the Gasparilla Distance Classic. The only time she missed it was giving birth to one of her four children.
“I love to run. I started running track and field in high school and then in nursing school, I started running track and then I’m like ooh! This is awesome,” said Mary Ellen.
Mary Ellen inspired her daughter Kristina Brown to run too. And she has also run ultra marathons.
“She’s the reason I’m running this far. She’s the reason I did this 100 miler. She’s my mentor. My hero. My inspiration. So very grateful for her. I wouldn’t be running this far without her,” said Kristina.
Mary Ellen’s times have been slower these days ever since her diabetes diagnosis.
But she hasn’t stopped running.
“It’s the love of my life besides my kids and my husband,” said Mary Ellen.
