Martha Klueh’s accomplishments in running almost don’t seem real. She’s finished marathons in every state, and she’s one of around 600 people in the 7 Continents Marathon Club — that’s right, she has raced on each continent. The part-time dental hygienist, mother of three, and grandmother of five recovered from a broken femur suffered in a 2010 bicycle accident and, at 67, she says there’s still more pavement to pound.
When did you begin running?
I started in high school, when I was a freshman at Harrison. I ran a few miles here and there through my adulthood, and then in 2004, the YMCA began the half marathon. I met some wonderful friends, and we decided after the half in 2006 that we wanted to keep training. We signed up to run the Nashville Marathon in 2007. We kind of got hooked. … We thought, wow, it would be really cool to run the Boston Marathon!
This became a huge part of your life, and then you got injured.
I was on a Sunday afternoon bike ride with a group of running friends. One biker turned around right in front of me, and I did not get clipped out in time. I T-boned their bike and went down. I not only broke my femur but also broke off the large and lesser trochanter. There is a plate and four pins in my femur attached to a screw into my hip. I am reinforced and part bionic now. … The break was so bad that I was immediately fitted with a unit that I wore twice a day to stimulate the lay down of new bone. I went to ProRehab, where they used a stem unit to stimulate my muscles in my leg. I learned to walk again at the three-month mark and began swimming with a master’s group. … Stubbornness and determination and a lot of hard work got me back to running at the seven-and-a-half-month mark.
Your accident actually inspired your big running goals.
The doctor told me that I wouldn’t run another marathon, so I was out to prove that the mind can do anything it sets itself up to. Just to be stubborn and determined, I ran 55 more marathons and an Ironman in Texas. Don’t let anyone tell you something can’t be done! I finished (marathons) in all 50 states in 2020: 47 with friends, two by myself, and one with my daughter. I decided to finish the Abbott World Marathon Majors — that’s a series of the six largest, most prestigious races in the world: Boston, New York, Chicago, London, Berlin, and Tokyo. Then, I was only two marathons away from having seven continents, so then it was Australia and Antarctica.
What’s a cool medal you’ve earned?
The most hilarious marathon medal is the one from Little Rock. It is literally as big as your head and extremely heavy.
Describe some memorable races.
I ran across London Bridge and Tower Bridge and (past) so many other London landmarks, then finished at Buckingham Palace. I have run under the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and the streets of Tokyo. I ran along the beach in Rio de Janeiro and around Table Mountain in Africa. Running across the Harbor Bridge in Australia and alongside the Opera House is a moment to remember. I have run the beautiful Mount Desert Island in Maine in the fall and through vineyards in California, and down a volcano in Hawaii. The last marathon in Antarctica was the icing on the cake. If you want to go to Antarctica, stay home. (It’s) glaciers and snow and mountains. No penguins. Just freezing cold. Minus 37 degrees Celsius.
What has running taught you?
You have to have friends to get through the long runs, undoubtedly. My husband (Michael) passed away six years ago, and my running friends helped take care of me. They’ve been my life since then — them, and my family. And I think it’s always good to make yourself do something hard. Give yourself a goal. Because if you can do hard things, then when other bad things hit you in life, it makes it easier. It makes you more resilient and stronger mentally and physically.
What’s next?
Traveling the world. I have a bucket list of places I want to go. I also have three friends who have joined me in hiking the national parks the last three years. We are heading to Grand Teton and Yellowstone this summer. It will be hard to top our hikes in Glacier last summer — (it was) one of the most beautiful places I have been.
Going the Distance
Martha Klueh consumes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a banana on race days and “always coffee before morning runs,” she says. Quality, comfortable shoes and wicking socks are vital, too — “they should feel good from the minute you put them on,” Klueh says — as well as footwear that fits. To train, Klueh says she and her friends run “all over the city.” The Evansville State Hospital grounds are one spot.“I like the West Side for hills but do a lot of my running on the East Side,” she says. She also cross-trains vigorously: “I run 3-4 days and swim three days a week with a master’s group at Deaconess Aquatic Center, attend Orangetheory, and ride my Peloton.”
