Pamela Torres Has 161 Reasons To Run For More Than Herself

Pamela Torres recently came up on my radar after she finished a 161 mile run in honor of servicewomen that have lost their lives while serving since 9/11.

The cause is close to her heart, being a member of the United States Marine Corp.

I am looking forward to having Pamela join me on the show today for a few easy miles.

Pamela Torres

A Healthy Outlet

Pamela Torres is relatively new to the running world having only begun about 3 years ago.

In the past 3 years, Pamela has accomplished quite a bit including distances from the 10k up to most recently 161 miles.

Pamela has been an active military member since graduating high school.

The military required her to complete physical fitness tests, yet it took some time for her to fall in love with running.

It was while she was on recruiting duty that she observed a lot of her peers turning to unhealthy habits to cope.

Pamela chose to begin running as her outlet for stress.

Running was the only thing she could do where it was acceptable not to bring her phone with her.

The more Pamela ran the more she challenged herself with how far she could go.

Military Family

Pamela is no stranger to the sacrifices of servicemen and women after growing up in a military family.

Her father served in the Air Force and her older brother in the Army.

Pamela chose to follow in her family’s footsteps directly out of high school when she joined the Marine Corp.

Serving in the military brought Pamela to areas all over the world and allowed her to forge friendships unlike any she had ever experienced.

For the majority of her military career, Pamela was not a runner.

She completed her first half marathon in 2016 and then completed her first marathon the following year.

Her marathon experience did not leave her wanting to run ever again.

After taking the entire winter off following the race, she came across a run nearby that intrigued her.

Valor Run

The race that inspired Pamela to begin running again was the Valor Run 10 miler.

The day of the race didn’t start out as planned for many reasons and left Pamela feeling disappointed.

In the middle of her pity party, she came across a section of trail that had pictures of all 161 women that sacrificed their lives while serving post 9/11.

These pictures and stories stopped her in her tracks.

Pamela even recognized some of these women from going through boot camp with them and serving with them.

Instantly Pamela’s mood shifted and she realized she was running for THEM, not for herself.

After completing the race Pamela spent 2 days reading about the 161-mile Valor Run.

It was at that moment that Pamela knew what her goal had to be and she was determined to make it happen.

Pamela Torres on the road

Never Forgotten

Valor Run first began in 2014 by a naval officer.

She wanted to run 1 mile every hour for every woman who lost their lives in combat post 9/11.

Women weren’t technically allowed to be in combat until the year 2016.

All these women being honored had lost their lives before they were technically “allowed” to.

The officer accomplished her goal by running 160 miles in 160 hours.

The following year the run became a non-profit organization and had its first person apply to run.

The money being raised by this organization goes directly to a scholarship fund helping women and their families.

Pamela wasn’t sure if she had enough experience, yet she was determined and poured her heart and soul into the application to run.

A Bigger Purpose

Pamela anxiously waited until she received her approval that she would be allowed to run in honor of these women.

In the year leading up to the race, Pamela was consumed with training and preparing for the biggest challenge she had ever undertaken.

Her goal was to run 161 miles over the course of 10 days.

Pamela experienced many highs and lows during the 10 days of running.

What ultimately got her through was remembering that the ladies she was running for deserved her best.

For anyone that is considering applying to run this race, Pamela had some advice:

Make sure it’s something you really want to do and do it for the right reasons.
There are no medals, crowds, or awards.
The run is an internal endeavor.

Over the course of the 10 days, Pamela’s heart doubled in size and the experience was exactly as she had hoped it would be.

I Am Capable Of That

Before completing the Valor Run Pamela had a baseline in her mind of what she was capable of.

After the race, there is now a big question mark with endless possibilities of what she can do.

Now when Pamela considers entering an event the question isn’t how well she can do.

The question is can she come out the other end better than when she crossed the start line.

Her goals in the near future include the 9/ll Promise Run and possibly another go at the marathon distance.

Completing the Valor Run has taught Pamela that there are 2 types of pain.

The first type of pain can break you and make you weaker.

The second type of pain makes you twice as strong as you ever thought you could be.

When Pamela feels pain she reminds herself that there is, “greatness on the other side of the pain.”

Mentioned In This Episode:

Stay connected with Pamela Torres and stay up to date on everything going on with Valor Run by following them on Twitter.

Pamela Torres recently finished a 161-mile run in honor of women that lost their lives while serving post 9/11. These women deserved her best and that's what she gave them. Click To Tweet

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