A 60-year-old D.C. woman who survived major heart surgery five years ago is set to fulfill her dream of running her first marathon.
"I'm blessed. I am beyond blessed. I'm getting emotional talking about it," Jackie Snowden told News4's Shomari Stone.
Snowden plans to run the Rock 'n' Roll half marathon on Saturday and said she's already anxious with anticipation.
"I've been working very hard to try to keep it as normal as possible because I don't want to get too anxious and won't be able to sleep tonight," she said.
It's a big moment in her life because Snowden had emergency heart valve replacement surgery five years ago. Her family says she's lucky to be alive.
"I never thought my mother would be running a 5K, let alone a half marathon, especially after what she went through five years ago so this is pretty cool," said Snowden's daughter Jennifer, who helped her mother train for the race.
Her dream has become an inspiration for her family and friends.
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"It's bigger than me. I really feel like this is a God sent. This is something that I'm supposed to do to inspire people because the number one response I get from everybody is that this is so inspiring," she said.
Snowden is asking people to support her marathon run with the hastag #PoweredByGod.
