An Iowa woman has set a new world record for the heaviest female to complete a marathon. Jennifer Smith weighs 346 pounds and broke the previous record held by a 288-pound woman. Smith set a goal of finishing the 26-mile race in 12 hours and managed to finish in 11 hours and 50 minutes.
Smith started running after she nearly lost her leg in an accident in 2013. She found that running as a plus-size woman wasn't easy and rarely saw other plus-size women involved in races.
"When I started trying to get on my feet and walk, I got into 5k's I was highly frustrated that I couldn't find shirts big enough and there weren't many plus-sized people out there," Smith told KWQC. "So I became an advocate and pushed for more 5ks' and to get larger sizes and get more people active. And once I started doing that I decided 'why not push myself to my limits?'"
Now that Smith has completed a marathon and set a new world record, she plans to run in a 50k, which is 31 miles.
She hopes that her story will inspire people to go out and be active, regardless of their body type.
"I just want people to know one foot in front of the other, just keep pushing yourself every day!"