Sarah Plaxton, pictured here at the 2002 Bayshore Marathon, has won that race four times.

She has run them on muddy trails, on city streets, through the countryside and along the shoreline. She has sprinted through them (her PR is 2:46:27) and struggled through them.

Altogether, Sarah Plaxton has completed 31 marathons - and plans to run many more.

"Every marathon is an adventure," said Plaxton, 37, who lives in Highland with husband, Sheldon, and their three children. Due to a knee injury, Plaxton ran just a few races last year. But her first- place finish among state women at the Detroit Free Press Marathon Oct. 23 made her one of Michigan Runner's three 2005 Female Runners of the Year. Plaxton injured her knee in mid-December 2004. "I was running on a trail near my home when I tripped over a root and fell," she said. "I never found out exactly what was wrong with it, but the injury caused me to miss all the spring and summer races that I usually run." In her first major test of 2005, Plaxton finished second overall (1:58:24) in the Labor Day 30K in Milford Sept. 1. "It was somewhat of a gamble jumping into a race like that," Plaxton said. "It's a beautiful course, but it's pretty hilly. You go up and down the whole way, and it's mostly dirt roads. But my knee held up." She followed that by taking third overall (3:02:36) in the Quad Cities Marathon in Moline, Ill. She then completed her year by finishing fourth overall among women in the Free Press Marathon with a time of 2:51:25. "At the Free Press, I had a real good, steady pace the whole way," she said. "I was hoping to run around 2:50. I was still concerned about the knee, but I just took it one mile at a time." Plaxton, who attended Midland Bullock Creek High School and Central Michigan University, competed in her first marathon - the Free Press - in 1995. "I hit the wall in that one," she remembered. "I usually feel strong after the 19th mile. But in that one I hit the wall pretty hard." Plaxton ran her 2:46:27 PR in Philadelphia in 2002. In 2004, her biggest year for marathons, she competed in seven 26.2-mile races, including the U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials in St. Louis. "I was getting over the flu, so I couldn't breathe very well," she remembered of the Trials. "But my family still wanted me to go." She finished 97th in 3:03:55. "It's different from any other marathon," she said of the experience. "You meet all the top runners in the U.S. and they're all supportive of each other. And the spectators are very enthusiastic." Plaxton is eager begin marathoning in 2006. "I feel real good right now," she said. "I don't recommend running two marathons to recuperate from a knee injury, but it seems to have worked for me." MR