Life keeps her running
She runs. She rests ...
and she runs some more.
Sally Libonati is a fierce competitive runner both
on and off the island of Boca Grande, and well
as throughout Florida and in several other
states.
The Dolphin Cove/Pink Pony employee is locally
known for running 10, 20 and sometimes more than
30 miles on any given day of the week.
Recently, she took part in one particular event that
further tested her strength and stamina. She
completed a 48-hour “Save The Daylight” run in
November. The event took place in Englewood over
daylight saving time weekend.
“This is the fourth year I’ve done it,” Sally said.
“I ran 141.9 miles. I started Friday morning and
finished Sunday morning around 9 a.m.”
In the long distance races, participants can choose
to run as much or as little as they want, and take
breaks as needed.
She said everyone has different goals of how many
miles they want to complete, and runners can
choose to either camp out and take naps or go home
and sleep for a few hours in their own beds.
Sally used the back seat of her truck to catch a
78 GASPARILLA ISLAND January/February 2018
couple quick naps when she realized her body
needed to rest.
“If you use those 48 hours wisely, it’s amazing
how much rest you can get and spend a few
hours off your feet,” she said.
The award for running a 100-miler is usually a
belt buckle.
Sally has earned four awards from the “Save
The Daylight” races and three of them are from
running 100 miles in less than 24 hours. She’s also
earned one for completing 200 miles, another for
running the Daytona 100-mile, and one for
running a “Dawn to Dusk” 100 miler. In total, she
has earned 10 in the last four years.
This year, her husband participated in the
November event.
“He usually crews me and helps out during the
runs, but this year, he decided to do his first 100
miler … I was very proud of him.”
She said it’s actually easier to keep moving the
day after the long distance runs, because the
muscles won’t stiffen up.
Try a mile ...
or 100 ...
in her
shoes
By Sue Erwin
Photos provided