Julie Weiss is a celebrated sports deity, who authored her inspiring feat in a best-selling book, “52 Weeks, 52 Marathons: The Miles and Trials of a Marathon Goddess”.

Finishing 52 marathons in 52 weeks while raising over half a million dollars for pancreatic cancer patients, “The Marathon Goddess” is a well-deserved moniker for this female athlete.

And she’s not stopping.

Julie ran 57 more marathons after her 52nd with the goal to raise more funds for her advocacy.

“I’ve been running to raise awareness about pancreatic cancer since I lost my dad to it. He was my biggest fan. He gave me the confidence to pursue running. It started for him until I reached out to the entire pancreatic cancer community and raised money to help everyone affected by this disease. These people who are fighting so hard to survive give me strength. Running for something bigger than myself empowers me to keep on going,” she reveals. 

Though strongly driven by her cause, the true power that fuels this marathon goddess lies in her ability to visualize, focus, and make things happen. In fact, Julie was overweight and depressed until she took one foot in front of the other and started running to historic high.

“Visualize the things that you want. Focus on them. Think about them everyday. Imagine yourself doing them and take small steps everyday to achieve that goal. If you keep going, you’ll get there.”

Now 50, Weiss continues to train, this time for the Boston Marathon. The small steps she took 10 years ago are now part of her lifestyle because as she puts it, “training is a race that has no finish line.”

Her advice to beginners? Start with your body.

“What you do with your body is very important so eat healthy, hydrate, rest, and give time for recovery,” she advised because after all, the body is an armor all runners, goddesses or not, have to wear in the race.