Photo: Marathon veterans (from left) Donna Swanson, Maggy Higgins Zidar, writer Doug Kurtis and Nina Bovio share camaraderie and tales.

Only a handful of Michigan women have run more than 50 marathons. Here are three.

Nina Bovio, Ann Arbor, 56 (PR 2:57:06)

A two-pack-a-day smoker, Bovio sat home watching her three children and TV soap operas, drinking Coke and eating Fritos before deciding, as she neared 30, to quit smoking and pick up running. Six months after she started (running around the block), Bovio won a five-mile race. It hooked her on running and whole different way of life.

The 1977 Toledo Marathon, held on a hot June day, was her first. It was quite awhile before she wanted to run another. Now she finds, "marathons provide me the time to accept life as is. I run to strengthen my spirit, so I can hold on to the commitments I make to people in my world. Running is not an act of avoidance; it is an act of reinforcing inner strength."

Bovio had three more children, fitting in marathons between deliveries. She continues to run more than 30 miles per week. Age and injuries have slowed her times but not her interest. "I love to run, and accept whatever I can accomplish," she says. "To run a marathon, you need enthusiasm in your heart."

Bovio lives by her goals. After running her 50th marathon on her 50th birthday, she has set out to run a 26.2-miler in each state. She has finished 84 marathons in 39 states so far. Her favorites include Columbus and Boston, the latter for its challenge, the city and its tradition. For the energy, New York City would be her choice.

"I love the lessons I learn about life in every 26.2-mile adventure," Bovio declares.

Donna Swanson, Northville, 50 (PR 3:13:33)

Swanson started running in 1979 after witnessing the excitement of her husband, John, completing his first marathon. She made her own debut a year later, and was on such a "high" from the accomplishment that she quickly forgot how hard the last 10K was. "It was a feeling of elation and success unlike any I'd experienced," she remembers. "I couldn't sleep at all that night."

Swanson loves marathons because each is a challenge and adventure. "Even disappointing ones give you a strong feeling of accomplishment, of having persevered," she says.

"No other racing distance provides that sense of achievement and excitement, or the whole gamut of emotions," Swanson continues. "They carry over into other aspects of life and provide confidence in your endeavors." She encourages runners to get involved with clubs, or find partners to share the long training and enjoyment of the sport.

Swanson maintains a minimum weekly mileage (currently 30 per week) year-round, then gradually increases it prior to marathons, focusing on three or four long training runs of 18-22 miles. As she gets older, yoga and strength-training (weights) have helped her balance her training program.

Marathons give Swanson focus and an excuse to travel. Her favorites include Detroit, Bayshore, Michigan Trail, the 100th Boston (because she ran it with two of her sisters) and the "Maraton de la Liberte" in Normandy, which she and John ran together to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

Maggy Higgins Zidar, 52, Pontiac (PR 3:17)

Zidar ran her fastest marathon in five years Oct. 20 at Columbus, 3:27:59, just minutes faster than her marathons in Dayton and Detroit a few weeks earlier.

She started running at age 30 after dropping out of a tennis clinic because she thought she was an old lady. Zidar ran her first marathon at Detroit in 1982, finishing with former West Hills Junior High School teaching mate Donna Swanson. She's run 72 of her 85 marathons since turning 40.

"I've told many first-timers that the marathon will change their lives," says Zidar. "They'll never doubt themselves again in any seemingly- impossible situation, and the determination they dig for in those last miles will go all the way to the soul."

She cites her dad, who was at the finish line of each marathon she ran until he passed away in 1988, as her inspiration.

Zidar runs seven miles each morning, then leaves for school. "I have the dark world to myself," she says. "I have serene silence in which to solve problems and plan my day." From that 50-mile-per-week base, Zidar builds toward marathons. She hopes to run her 100th in London, England (where she was born), with Nina Bovio.

Zidar first met Bovio at a Free Press Marathon training run in 1988. Nina told Maggie and the friend who had introduced them they'd be better runners if they didn't talk so much. "Now I talk all the time while running with friends," she says.

Writer Doug Kurtis, 50, holds world records for the most sub-2:20 marathons (76) and marathon wins (40). He may be contacted at dkurtis@peoplepc.com.