Video: Marathon Runner Sheds 170 Pounds

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LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss.(WCBI)–A Lowndes County woman battling obesity and other serious health problems is forced to do something about.

Lowndes County fitness queen Melinda Howard is literally running for her life. Respiratory problems brought on by living in a mountainous region somehow transformed a skinny 90 pound woman to an unhealthy patient. So serious, her husband Chris didn’t expect her to live very long.

“And so they put me on prednizone to try and clear out my lungs and they just kept increasing it increasing it and it was just not a happy thing. And I kind of exploded between that and other medications. They were not nice,” said Melinda Howard/Weight Loss Champion.

“She had tubes in her nose all the time. She wasn’t able to go out. I mean, leaving the house was a huge challenge. She would stop breathing while she was sleeping which scarred the dickens out of my dad,” said Laura Howard/Daughter.

Our four foot eleven inch tall 90 pound woman mushroomed into a 275 pound unhealthy wreck. Immediately self motivation forced her to a social media site where she hooked up with friends who exercised while in support of very sick children. Every step she takes, Howard is thinking of little Aiden. It appears to be working, in just three and a half years this determined runner has lost 170 pounds.

“I don’t have what I consider illegal or bad foods. If I want something I eat it, I just don’t eat massive quantities of it,” said Melinda Howard.

Our committed runner has brought home dozens of medals from places like Chicago, Maine where she got her first, the latest medal was awarded here in Mississippi.

“In at the half way point you run over that great big huge bridge that crosses the Mississippi River. And you finish in Greenville Mississippi. And that was a hard race, it was fun,” said Melinda Howard.

“Yeah, now she is back. She is happy and she is peppy and she is motivated, and she is fun to be around,” said Laura Howard.

“I encourage people to try to do whatever it takes to improve their health,” said Melinda Howard.

To stay in good shape our marathon runner makes sure she gets in at least a good 10 miles a day.

Howard is now training for a marathon to be held in Germany

Categories: Local News

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