Remarkable Achievement: Heather Liber Completes 50th Half Marathon for her 50th Birthday
Heather Liber, FCM’s coordinator for personnel affairs, was never a fan of running—it was just physically impossible for her as a child and as an adult.
However, with commitment, determination and training, Heather completed her 50th half marathon on [date], for her 50th birthday!
Ten years ago, she and her family were at Disneyland and were stuck in traffic because of it being marathon weekend there. Being a huge Disney fan and having done some crazy things in the name of Disney—like spending the night camped out in front of Disneyland before the 50th anniversary in 2005—she envied those that were earning the Disney-themed medals.
About six months went by and she asked her husband (an avid runner, from being in the Army), how far a 5k was and if he thought she could do it. The rest is history! Heather ran three 5ks (3.1 miles each) at Disney the following year and was ready for more—a feeling she never imagined.
Reaching the 10k mark, Heather decided to train more and conquer her first half marathon, the Tinkerbell Half in May, 2016. Not only did she complete the half but did the two-day Pixie Dust Challenge—a 10k (6.2 miles) on Saturday, and the half marathon (13.1 miles) on Sunday.
“I never wanted to run, and when I finally did, I never had any aspirations of doing more than 5ks,” Heather recalled. “But it was my love of Disney that got me motivated, and the runner’s high as you cross the finish line that makes the memory of the early morning trainings fade away.”
After meeting former Olympian, Jeff Galloway, she applied his “run/walk” method and knew she could do any distance. It was with the Galloway Method that Heather was able to train and run the Dopey Challenge twice—a four-day, 48.6 mile race held at DisneyWorld. It starts with a 5k on Thursday, a 10k on Friday, a half marathon on Saturday and finishes with a marathon (26.2 miles) on Sunday.
In 2019, a younger running friend of Heather’s reached her 50th half marathon. Heather knew her 50th birthday was approaching in a few years, so she set a new goal of completing 50 half marathons by her 50th birthday. At that time, Heather had completed 22 half marathons, and had a little more than three years to complete this goal.
Then the pandemic hit. Races were cancelled or postponed, and she had to feverishly add other races that were still being held, and completely rearrange her schedule so that she could still reach her goal.
She chose the Mesa Marathon weekend to complete her 50th…and it ended up being a couple days after her 50th birthday, but she finished!
Heather’s running has taken her and her husband coast-to-coast to participate in races. While their favorite spots to run are always Disney parks, other notable races they’ve competed in are Estes Park, Colorado, Surf City (Huntington Beach, CA), Pittsburgh and Austin. Running has given them the opportunity to travel, an excuse to go visit friends and family, and has been incredibly rewarding in the process.
In addition to running, Heather is quite creative and has designed and hand-painted many of her own medal displays. “Knowing how dusty it is in Arizona, I didn’t want to just let my medals collect dust on a wall. She has framed some special sets, like her Dopey Challenge medals and a coast-to-coast Star Wars-themed set. They are all hung in her home office.
Heather encourages everyone to get active, regardless of whether it’s walking or running.
“All you need is a good pair of running shoes and socks,” said Heather. “It’s an inexpensive hobby, it helps you stay fit and allows you to meet many awesome people—whether you run in your neighborhood, at the gym, in a running group or travel to races. Start by running to the corner and walking back. Then a few days later run to the corner and back…then add mileage from there – you’ll be surprised what your body can do.”