Fifty by Sixty

Gloria Linares, a 60-year-old retired Long Island manicurist and grandmother of six, achieved something that not many people can boast — finishing a marathon in every state. Since arriving from Colombia as a single mother thirty years ago, the 5'1" distance runner has completed 1,310 miles in the US, getting her first finish in the New York Marathon in 1978. She completed Number 50 in Anchorage, Alaska in four hours and twenty minutes, and was surprised to find herself surrounded by her four adult children who flew in unannounced to run part of the race with their mother. Linares' new goal is to run on all seven continents and she has already conquered both North and South America and Europe. Next up: Antarctica in 2015. Hats off to a woman who knows both how -- and when -- to cross a line.