Runner is back in the race
Crystal Briones was running races and training for her first half-marathon when a discovery about five years ago stopped her in her tracks.
One day at the car dealership where the worked, the then-20-year-old Huntington Beach resident stood up at her desk and fell down. Briones thought it was just clumsiness or maybe pain from her long training runs, but she continued having trouble.
“It got to the point where I couldn’t stand on my [left] leg,” Briones said. “It felt numb.”
She consulted doctors, but each concluded she was fine. Over the next five months, Briones’ leg worsened. Each time she’d touch her calf, it felt cold. The skin looked purple. She found herself bedridden.
After asking her doctor for additional tests, she received an inconclusive biopsy. The doctor said the best option was to operate. About 60% of the muscle in her left calf was removed. It turns out she had had a benign tumor filled will blood clots. With the stitches out and cast removed, Briones began her recovery over what would become a year of grueling physical therapy.
“It was a struggle to walk again,” she said Monday afternoon. “But a lot of it was proving to myself that I could do it.”
Today, she’s on a mission to accomplish all the things she never thought she could after surgery.
That dream starts with running the Surf City USA Marathon and Half Marathon on Sunday. Briones will join more than 20,000 people from all 50 states and 23 countries to participate in the oceanfront marathon.
Briones, who didn’t start running again until this year, said training felt scary, but each time she felt sore, she told herself she could do it. She runs at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley with A Snail’s Pace Running Academy, a group geared toward helping people improve their fitness level and running ability.
Michelle Montiel, the Snail’s Pace director for south Orange County, said she admires Briones’ perseverance.
“I’m very proud of her and her accomplishments for training for the Surf City Marathon this weekend,” Montiel said.
“They’ve been super helpful,” Briones said.
The night before the big run — which starts along Pacific Coast Highway and passes the Huntington Beach Pier — Briones plans to eat plenty of pizza and pasta.
And to overcome any half-marathon jitters, she said she’ll remember to trust her body and strive toward accomplishing a personal record. Her fiance will cheer her along the way. After having spent months with crippling leg pain, Briones hopes to finish the 21 kilometers in 2 hours and 15 minutes.
“It feels really wonderful to run without the restrictions,” Briones said. “Any time I’m on a race, one of my motivators is turning thankful. I thank God for letting me be able to do this.”