World traveler and marathon runner, Elaine Hartrick, has come to Movara Fitness Resort in Ivins, Utah as part of her training before she is inducted into the Seven Continents Club. The Seven Continents Club is a group comprised of athletes who complete a marathon or half-marathon on all seven continents.
Once I have completed this, said Elaine, I will be one among a group of less than 150 women in the World who have accomplished this feat, and my plan is to do it in under 2 years.
Elaine has already finished races in four of the seven continents. Her very first race was in St. George at the Snow Canyon Half-Marathon in November 2013 which fulfilled the requirement for a North American race. After that, in May 2014 she completed a half-marathon at the Great Wall of China, fulfilling the requirement for a race completed in Asia. In June 2014 she also raced in South America on Easter Island and most recently, she completed one of the worlds most difficult and strenuous races, a half marathon in Antarctica last month.
Apart from these races, in 2014 Elaine also climbed 20,000 feet up Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa and walked the Camino de Santiago, a trail spanning 500 miles across the Great Pyrenees Mountains in Spain and France.
Elaine first started her goal of becoming a member of the Seven Continents Club in 2014 after spending 34 weeks at Movara Fitness Resort in Ivins where she discovered a passion for running and hiking. While at Movara, Elaine also had the experience of a lifetime. She not only lost a significant amount of weight and regained physical health, but she also formed strong friendships with the resort staff and fellow guests that would inspire her to begin a journey that would take her all over the world.
When she first checked into the resort in 2013, Elaine had been searching for a fitness camp and an escape from traumatic events that had been happening in her life.
Movara is where she found a safe haven, said Elaine, They are my family.
Elaine had endured years of physical and emotional abuse from her husband whom she married at 19. She felt broken and helpless, as what she endured had injured her so deeply that it consumed her physical and emotional health.
In the latter years of my marriage where it was becoming more and more difficult to cope, food became my outlet, said Elaine, I didnt drink or smoke, I ate and so I became unhealthy and overweight.
She began seeking help, and after one final abusive incident she found herself thrown outside, providing her the opportunity to escape.
It was the first time he had thrown me outside, and I thought to myself, here is my chance, and so I ran to the neighbors house and called for help, said Elaine, I havent looked back!
Those that know her personally, say that she is an incredible inspiration and that her sweet demeanor and passion for living is contagious. Elaine is also writing a book called Freeing Snow White, which is scheduled to be released in August 2015.