Mud Chicken to Mountain Runner: How One Runner Found Her Place in Ultra Running After 50

How did Sherri Donahue go from mud run to mountain runner and what transpired along the way? It started in 2013, when she stood at the starting line of a 6-kilometer mud run, terrified and convinced she didn’t belong. Her husband had signed her up for the event without her consent, and she was certain she would end up “left under an obstacle, be a lump, left behind.” She even wrote a blog post titled “Mud Chicken” instead of the event’s actual name “Mud Hero” – a testament to her fear of failure.

But something unexpected happened that day. Not only did she complete the course, but she discovered a community that would change her life. “One girl said, ‘you go girl,’ I thought, she is right. I’m doing great so I yelled back, “Yeah, you too,” Sherri recalls of her first race experience. She also noticed an older runner with a white sweatband and muscle shirt, completing the course at his own pace. These moments began to shift her perspective on who could participate in endurance sports.

The Spark That Ignited an Ultra Running Journey

The day after completing her first mud run, Sherri surprised both herself and her husband with an unexpected declaration: “I want Death Race.” The Death Race, a formidable 118-kilometer event with three mountain summits and river crossings, became her next goal. Rather than being deterred by the challenge, Sherri embraced it, forming a team for the 2014 event. The transition from mud run to mountain runner began.

“I had my real come to Jesus moment when I went off of my leg,” Sherri shares about her team’s Death Race experience. “The tears came to my eyes and I just went, it’s a long way down. It’s a long way to go. It’s dark because my leg was in the dark.” Despite the fear, she persevered, driven by the responsibility to her team and the desire to prove something to herself.

Learning Through Setbacks

Starting running after age 50, Sherri’s journey wasn’t without its challenges. In 2015, she attempted her first 50-mile race with minimal training. “I had no plan. Honestly, I had nothing. I just ran. I had no idea what I was doing,” she admits. This approach led to a DNF (Did Not Finish) at the 46-kilometer mark after injuring her knee early in the race.

The DNF initially devastated her. “I felt like such a failure. When we got back to the main aids, where the whole race hub was, I felt as if everyone was looking at me. I wanted the race to swallow me up,” Sherri recalls. However, a friend helped her reframe the experience by pointing out her accomplishment: completing a marathon distance on an injured knee.

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Finding Peace in the Journey

Through her experiences, Sherri discovered that endurance running offered more than just physical challenges. During a particularly emotional time, when her mother was nearing the end of her life, Sherri found solace in running. “I did that more for not grieving, but just to be alone in the prairies with the geese flying overhead and the sunset. I looked up and thought, “I really love this sport.”

This love for the sport has taken her to mountaintops, through deserts, and into the darkness of night running. To think that her husband signing her up for a mud run would lead to a runner standing on the mountain top. “I love being in nature. I love challenging myself. I love the toughness of it,” she explains. “It’s just going in places that you can’t get to by car.”

Wisdom Earned Through Miles

For those considering starting their endurance journey, especially later in life, Sherri offers practical advice: “First off, get good shoes. Your most important piece of equipment are your shoes.” She emphasizes the importance of proper gear and dismisses the notion that walking is failure. “The gates of trail running: it’s running, walking, crawling, it’s post-holing, it’s hiking, it’s climbing and it’s whatever gate in between.”

Perhaps her most valuable advice is about choosing races: “Choose the races that are best suited for you.It might not be what everyone else is running but it will be for you.” This wisdom comes from years of experience and learning to listen to her own interests rather than following the crowd.

Embracing the Adventure

Even getting lost on course became a learning experience for Sherri. “If you get off course, don’t panic. Take a moment and look around. Start to read the forest and determine your next step but do so from a calm state,” she advises. This approach – staying calm and working with whatever challenges arise – has served her well throughout her endurance sports journey.

Today, Sherri continues to challenge herself in the sport she loves, finding joy in both the struggles and triumphs. “The enjoyment is the struggle,” she says. “Because races aren’t all a high… it is such a roller coaster.”

Her journey from terrified first-timer to experienced ultra runner proves that it’s never too late to start, and that the finish line is just part of the reward. The real victory lies in discovering what you’re capable of, one step at a time.

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