Heather Lieberg a Mother of Three and teacher was fifth American at LA Marathon

After 14 miles, Heather Lieberg, 38, a mother of three and 2nd grade teacher from Montana, looked up to see no one in front of her Sunday at the Los Angeles Marathon. “ I felt awesome, it was fun," "I just wanted to hang in as long as I could." Lieberg said that it was just after the 15-mile marker, when the course began a downhill slope toward the Pacific Ocean, when she felt sharp discomfort in her quadriceps and she had to back off a bit. “Training back from an injury,” she said “in Montana winter is tough, and right from the start of the race I knew it was going to be rough! I considered dropping very early, but I knew I had so much support and I was going to finish no matter what!” By finishing ninth in the women's marathon in 2 hours, 38 minutes, 30 seconds, Lieberg was one of five American women to finish in the top 10 in Los Angeles for the second consecutive year... "I really didn't start professional running until I was about 35," Lieberg said. "I grew up playing basketball in Wyoming. … Running was something I did after I had my daughter. People said I was fast. I did a couple relays, then signed up for a marathon and ran it under three hours without training, so I thought, 'This could be fun.'"

posted Sunday March 18th