ZELIENOPLE — Seneca Valley graduate Shannon Mick was never an athlete in high school.

But since she started running, she doesn’t want to stop — and certainly won’t quit.

Mick, 34, a Zelienople resident, recently completed the Burning River 100 mile Ultra Marathon in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. She completed the course in 29 hours, 23 minutes and 16 seconds, beginning the race at 4 a.m. on a Saturday and finishing it Sunday morning.

Mick placed 113th overall out of 288 runners.

“We ran through a heavy storm for a while,” she said. “Then the sun came out and it got really hot.”

Such is the world of ultra marathon running — a world Mick wanted to enter after coming across the Badwater 135 while watching television one day. The Badwater 135 runs from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney. Calif.,. and is considered the toughest foot race in the world.

Mick was introduced to the running world 12 years ago by her husband,. Stephen, who was doing marathons. She started out doing 5K and 10K races before trying the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C.

“I decided to get into running to spend a little more time with him,” Mick said of her husband. “But I was turned off by that marathon. It was crowded and there was a lot of pushing ... It just wasn’t a good experience.

“Then I learned of trail running. Everyone was really friendly and you weren’t running in crowds. I was really intrigued by it.”

She ran her first 50-mile race in 2016.

“When Shannon approached me about possibly running a 100-miler, I thought she was a little crazy,” Stephen Mick said. “I mean, why run a marathon, then another, then another and another after that. That’s basically what those100-milers are.

“But she was determined to give it a go.”

She was determined to train properly as well.

“I consider myself a 24-7 athlete,” Shannon Mick said. “Every day, I’m doing something to prepare myself for an ultra marathon. I’m the mother of a 4-year-old and when that prevents me from getting out and running one day,. I’ll lift weights or something instead.”

To prepare to run a 100-miler, Mick will do a 20 to 50-mile practice run on occasion. She’s competed in the Oil Creek 100 at Oil Creek State Park in Oil City four times, but never completed that race.

There is a cut-off time in ultra marathons. If a runner does not complete the course in the allotted time, they are pulled off.

“It’s all for safety reasons,” Shannon said. “I got to 85 miles in one of the races, but that was the closest.”

Her husband competed the Oil Creek 100 on his third attempt.

“There are unique challenges to running these,” Stephen said. “Trees are fallen in front of you and when you’re on these trails at night, some of the wildlife comes out. I’ve run into a couple of porcupines. The weather is unpredictable. Sometimes you’re running in ankle-deep mud.”

Shannon Mick said she was almost hit in the head by a flying squirrel during one of her 100-mile attempts.

“The elevation at Oil Creek was 17,000 feet,” she said. “I’ve had my eye ion the Burning River 100 for a few years now and the elevation there was 8,000 feet. I figured that would make a difference and it did.”

Her husband served as a crew member and helped pace her at the Burning River 100.

The next race on Mick’s agenda is the Acre Trail Ultra 50-miler in Cook Forest in two weeks. She has yet to plan her competitive running schedule for 2024, but some 50 and 100-mile events will be on it.

And she’s not through with the Oil Creek 100 just yet.

“I will get back there and complete that one,” she declared.

As for the Badwater 135?

“Long range, I want to build my running resume’ and compete in that one someday,” Mick said.

The Micks are members of the Butler County Milers running club, which lent support at the Burning River 100.

“We’ve come to love trail running,” Stephen said. “Everyone is so friendly and supportive of each other.”