Jenna Geibel is a personal trainer. She's in superior shape.

So when the 2009 Butler High School graduate volunteered at the last minute two years ago to participate in a unique charity event in which she would have to run 24 miles in 24 hours, she thought it would be no big deal.

“I didn't train for it or anything — it's a mile per hour. Whatever. I've run a few miles,” Geibel said, chuckling. “By the end of that thing, for the next five days, I had to walk around my apartment flat-footed because my calfs were so tight when I flexed I thought I was going to cry.”

Geibel will participate again in the annual event for the Cleveland chapter of A Special Wish Foundation, an organization that raises money to grant wishes to children battling life-threating illnesses.

Geibel's boss at Anytime Fitness in Concord, Ohio, Anna Dey, got involved in the charity in 2015.

She began with one child and ran it on a treadmill.

Since it has grown to 10 children. They will run their 24 miles this year on Oct. 10 and 11 inside Classic Park, the home of the minor league team Lake County Captains in Eastlake, Ohio.

This year Geibel, a former standout softball player at Butler and Slippery Rock University, will run for a 9-year-old girl named Addie, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor last year.

Geibel has met the children she is helping.

She knew Addie before the diagnosis. Her aunt is a member at Anytime Fitness gym in Concord, Ohio, where Geibel now works as a personal trainer.

Geibel said Addie's prognosis has improved.

“She finished her last round of chemotherapy (Tuesday). She got to ring the bell,” Geibel said. “They think they got it. The next years or so she has to keep getting scans.”

While running 24 miles in 24 hours is a painful endeavor, it is worth it to Geibel.

The day starts at noon and volunteers are split into teams of four. At the top of the hour, the first runner goes. When he or she completes a mile, the second runner begins, then the third and fourth until they all finish.

It's harder than it sounds.

“You're essentially running a marathon,” Geibel said. “You're awake for 24 hours. Even before the sun comes up you're thinking. 'What did I get myself into?'”

Geibel got into personal training late.

She graduated from SRU with a degree in sports management, but knew it wasn't the line of work for her.

“I've always been active playing softball. I can't sit still,” Geibel said. “I always knew I wasn't going to be happy sitting around in the business field. I just decided I kind of like working out a lot, so maybe I could help other people, too.”

In college, Geibel was 200 pounds. After she graduated, she decided to focus on getting into better shape.

She dropped 58 pounds and discovered a new love of personal fitness.

She decided to become a personal trainer and became certified.

It hasn't always been easy.

When she first started out she did personal training sessions in home in Northeast Ohio.

“I put 40,000 miles on my car in nine months,” Geibel said. “I had to quit this.”

She found a home at Anytime Fitness.

She also found anotehr calling: powerlifting.

Geibel qualified for nationals last year and again this year.

Her best bench press is 137 pounds, squat 248 pounds and deadlift 319 pounds.

“I would have never thought I could have done that,” Geibel said. “I trained for almost an entire year. I was looking for something after college and I wanted to be a part of a team. We have a powerlifting team in the gym.”

The gym is like a family.

The charity is her way to give back.

“There are 200 people doing this thing,” Geibel said. “It's amazing.”