Stay in touch with product releases and news from the Wigwam community.
Use RSS 2.0 to stay up to date with the Wigwam Trail Report.
At age 48, Carol Dellinger, has a lot of titles – dental assistant, spokeswoman, motivational speaker but two of her titles are more important than the others, (Wigwam) athlete and survivor.
Dellinger’s marathon odyssey began in 1992 at the age of 30. While playing for a semipro women’s fastpitch softball team in her 20s, she began to look for a more individual sport. A teammate was training for a marathon so Dellinger thought she would too. She started out with shorter races and built up to marathons.
What Dellinger discovered following her first marathon was a true runner’s high. “It is the most euphoric feeling”, she said. She ran marathons here and there for several years, but that all changed in 1997. “That year all hell broke loose. I started doing 12 to 15 marathons a year and that continues” Dellinger stated.
Because breast cancer runs in her family: her mother died from it, Dellinger has been vigilant in watching her health and has gone faithfully every October for a mammogram. In October of 2009, she was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (or DCIS, a cancer of the milk ducts) which can only be detected through a mammogram as there are no lumps. She never let the diagnosis get her down or stop her from what she loved to do, and, just nine weeks after her mastectomy, ran a marathon in Phoenix, Arizona. She admitted it wasn’t easy especially after not being able to train much.
Last November, Carol ran the marathon of all marathons: the New York City Marathon. She ran it exactly one year after her surgery. That was marathon number 245. She faithfully runs in her Wigwam socks keeping her blister free. Her favorite socks are Ironman Thunder Pro Quarter and Cool-Lite Hiker Pro.
Dellinger will be completing her 250th marathon on Sunday, May 1, at the BMO Vancouver Marathon. While her goal is never to win a race, it is more important and satisfying to finish the race.
In celebration of her 250th marathon, Dellinger is hosting an Open House the later part of May in Spokane. Thanking her friends/supporters as well as her sponsors: Saucony, GU Energy Gel, Wigwam and special thanks to Cancer Care Northwest and Inland Imaging for getting her healthy!
Dellinger has a website www.warriormarathonrunner.com as well as a fan page on Facebook.
Congratulations Carol!