by John Welch

This feature is a continuation of the Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Runs coverage in the January 2004 issue of Runner Triathlete News. To get a complete wrap-up of Sunmart, pick up a copy of the January issue of Runner Triathlete News. Subscribe to RTN today!

The next time you curtail your running plans because your muscles are stiff and your bones ache, don't even think about complaining to Sabine Brown of San Antonio. Brown, 40, who was a competitive racquetball player until she was diagnosed with Avascular Necrosis (blood and bone disease that kills the joints due to blood supply problems), has had two hip replacement surgeries to her left leg.

But it took a lot more than two major surgeries from keeping her away from her favorite fitness activities. Brown, who was born in Essen, Germany, and lived in Greece, Iran and England, competed in her fifth Sunmart 50K on Dec. 13 at Huntsville State Park. And although she isn't the fastest person in the race, by any stretch of the imagination, she nonetheless gets the job done. Brown, whose personal best time at 50K is 6 hours, 12 minutes, 15 seconds, finished the 14th annual Sunmart race in 6:51:41.

"I had hoped to come back down to the lower 6:50 range, but I'm more concerned with what races are just around the corner," said Brown, who is employed at the Marriott River Walk in San Antonio. "I don't know how long I have with this hip, so I'm taking a long term approach to my racing."

But for Brown, who also competes in shorter races and triathlons and duathlons, just being visible on the course as a person who has had to overcome adversity makes it all worth the effort. And as her friends can attest, effort is nothing new to the lady who speaks German, English, Farsi, Greek and American Sign Language. And now it'll definitely pay off as Marriott is sending her to the Athens Olympics during the entire month of August in an official capacity with the hotel chain.

"I continually hear that people feel inspired by me, and I feel good about that," said Brown, who also survived a vicious dog attack in San Antonio a few years ago. "At Sunmart a lady commented on how beautifully I was running, and when I told her I had had two hip replacements, she said that she'd never whine about her little aches and pains ever again. Needless to say I grinned from ear to ear."

The dog attack, though, did little to cause humor on Brown's end.

"Following the dog attack, it took 1 1/2 years for me to be able to go back to McAllister Park to run," Brown said. "I make it a point now to tell people to keep their dogs on a leash."