Image: Instagram/@itsmecharleneg
Charlene Gonzalez proves that with effort and determination, one’s goals can be achieved at any point in his or her life.
The 44-year-old actress and former beauty queen finished not one, but two, marathons just three weeks apart. Last September, Gonzalez completed the Berlin Marathon.
Less than a month later, Gonzalez would compete, albeit with some hesitation, at the Chicago Marathon held last Sunday, Oct. 7.
“By far, this was one of my most memorable, emotional & painful races to date for me,” she said.
She admitted in an Instagram post, “Entering into this race I was quite nervous considering this would be my 2nd marathon in one month and I did not feel I had fresh legs entering the race.”
An additional challenge was running in the rain: “The rain was continuous until mile 16 and at mile 20, I wanted to give up since my legs [were fatigued] and feeling weak under me, from the compounded tiredness of the 2 races.”
“I cried buckets of tears on the course and especially, as I crossed the finish line,” she said.
Guiding her through the process was friend Ben Tanner, whom she credits for pushing her to achieve her personal best: “You did not allow me to give up and because of your guidance on the course I got my personal best time of 4:58:29.”
It was husband Aga Muhlach who convinced her to go through with the race, even if she wanted to pull out because she would be traveling on her own and it was just a quick trip.
“Thank you B @agamuhlach317 (Aga Muhlach) for always being a source of strength & inspiration. Your support is amazing,” she wrote.
Gonzalez has come a long way, both figuratively and literally, since her first marathon last year. She ran in the Tokyo Marathon in February 2017 after training for almost 10 months. The hard work was worth it as she ticked off running a marathon from her bucket list. /ra
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