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POSTED: Friday, May. 22, 2009

Running: Ski to Sea is part of stroke survivor's quest to run 500 races

When Bellingham resident Diana Robinson finishes the downhill run that is the third leg of Ski to Sea, she will have competed for the fifth time in the relay that stretches 90 miles from Mt. Baker Ski Area to the finish at Marine Park in Fairhaven.

Robinson, who's also done the run in each pervious Ski to Sea, will compete for team Sehome Diner this year.

"I don't know why. Every year I say never again. It's fun while you're doing it, but the next three days are always interesting," the 42-year-old Robinson said of the leg that is infamous for punishing runners with a 2,000-plus-foot drop over eight miles on the hard pavement of Mount Baker Highway.

By the time she crosses the finish line, Robinson will be well along her goal of completing 500 races of any length. But come Memorial Day Weekend, her races already will include 116 marathons and ultra-marathons.

"It's all about the numbers," Robinson said, laughing. "I just like it; it's fun."

Fun is a word the 1984 Bellingham High School graduate often uses when talking about running. She also could use "lifesaver," because it was running that made her healthy, which in turn likely prevented her death from a blood clot that lodged in an artery in the back of her neck.

Robinson was 30 when the stroke struck in September 1998, affecting her vision.

In November that same year, she underwent exploratory open-heart surgery because doctors thought they found a polyp on her aortic valve. There wasn't.

Years later, she's still affected by the stroke, which erased her ability to see what's in the upper left field of her vision.

But she doesn't spend her time lamenting or wondering if a stroke will happen again.

"I do get moments of pure joy. I'm just so happy to be alive. Maybe that is why I like to do everything I can in some regard because life is short and you never know," she said.

But she does know she wants to reach that magic number 500 race and hopes to do so when she runs the Yakima River Canyon Marathon next March 27. It also would be her eighth consecutive year of running that particular marathon.

"I'm sick. I'm telling you, I'm sick," she said, laughing.

Also included in the many miles Robinson has logged is the 100-mile race she ran in South Dakota in August 2007 called the Lean Horse Hundred. To train for that distance in punishing hot weather, she sat in a sauna at a local health club for as long as an hour - while wearing a rubber suit. And because the temperature gauge in the sauna wasn't working, she took in a turkey thermometer. Did she get questions?

"I think people were scared of me," she said, laughing. "I don't think they wanted to ask me too much."

But don't think that Ski to Sea is a breeze compared to a marathon or a hundred-miler.

While anything under 13 miles is a short race for Robinson, she said the last part of the running leg, where the elevation levels out, "really hurts after you've been going down for eight miles."

She compared it to running in concrete.

Still, if you plan to scrutinize the devoted runner to see if her rituals could help you in your effort, don't bother.

"Probably, I'm more known for my lack of ritual," Robinson said. "I don't often stretch or anything."

Nor does she get nervous, thanks to the many races in which she's run - races that have taken her to 15 states and British Columbia, some to run for the fun of it, some to run for the time.

"I get to travel all over the place," Robinson said.

SEHOME DINER

Division: Recreational Mixed

Cross-country ski: Meri-Jo Borzilleri

Downhill: Andy Murray

Run: Diana Robinson

Road bike: Lisa Kaufman

Canoe: Sandi Mitchell and Tim Jollimore

Mountain bike: Ron Judd

Kayak: Ken Wallace