The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
A few years ago, Erica Rasmussen said goodbye to obesity, shed 100 pounds and took control of her health. It wasn’t an easy journey. She became a world marathon runner for various charities, felt stronger than ever and had never imagined she could accomplish such a feat. Erica’s first marathon was November 2023 when she ran in the NYC Marathon for the Chris Klug Foundation, an Olympic snowboarder who needed an organ transplant before the Olympics.
After the NYC Marathon, Erica got hooked on running. “I enjoyed the whole process, the training, nutrition and race prep.” In 2024, she ran two marathons in two weeks. In September she tackled the Berlin Marathon in Germany, then two weeks later, she completed the Chicago Marathon. She applied to run in the prestigious Boston Marathon which was, she laughs, “Harder than applying to an Ivy League school.”
Erica had to meet strict criteria to be included in the series of seven World Major Marathons she had planned to run which included NYC, Berlin, Chicago, Boston, London, Tokyo and Sydney. She ran both the Boston and London Marathons in the same week in April of 2025. Having already been accepted to London for the April 2025 run and after an intense selection in the Boston Marathon, Erica was offered a bib to run for a charity there, the Boston Medical Center. She completed five of the seven world marathons in 2025, with Tokyo and Sydney scheduled for this year.
However, an injury during the Boston Marathon slowed her down. “They wanted to pull me off the course because they saw I was in a lot of pain,” she tells. But with only three miles to go, she endured. Erica went on to race in London and then took a break to heal since she was still in pain. “I thought I’d hurt my leg,” she recalls and went into GVH for testing. The ultrasound and scans showed she had an abdominal tumor pressing up against her psoas muscle, between the abdomen and hip. “Fortunately, it was not something I was going to have to live with forever.” She had surgery last August 2025 and began her healing journey.
While Erica was healing, the Boston Medical Center, the charity that she ran for last year, asked her back to run in the 2026 marathon. Although she was determined to make it happen, things didn’t go as planned. After recovering from the last surgery, Erica went into training again, but something was off. She discovered that there were some challenges with her hip. “My femur has too much bone at the top,” she says. Erica is returning to undergo surgery on May 12 to correct that. “The surgeon will carve it down and reconstruct it to be round. I’m getting a handcrafted femur,” she smiles about the five-hour surgery and knowing that it will be an intense recovery for six to nine months. “I can’t walk for a month. It will definitely be quite the journey,” she says.
The 2026 Boston Marathon was last month on April 20. It was Erica’s last run ever because, she realizes, that after the hip surgery, “I need to be mindful and distance running is not conducive post-surgery. That’s forever. So, Boston was the last one. That was why it was so special to have my kids run the last stretch of the race with me, about 100 meters, to bring me to the finish line.” Although throughout the entire marathon she had to wear a hip brace and her hip kept giving out she was glad she completed the race. “It was painful but my surgeon, Dr. Beim, advocated for me to complete my goal despite it being challenging. I appreciated being supported to do this last marathon. The only way I made it to the Boston start line without being able to train by running, was by training on a stationary bike at spin class.”
Erica’s typical marathon training plan was 20 to 40 miles of running a week. “My friend, mentor and naturopathic doctor, Roanne Houck, invited me to a spin class back in January. I had never tried it before, and I got hooked!” For Erica, that training made a huge difference and she was able to build endurance without putting extra mileage on her feet. Erica feels that Roanne’s guidance also helped guide her into a healthier wellness mindset where she learned much about how mind and body work together in the healing, strengthening and health process. “My weight loss journey isn’t over, but with Roanne’s help, I’ve been able to say goodbye to about 30 pounds recently in a way that’s sustainable and empowering that helps me for life. Ultimately it feels good to feel good, and I want to do all I can to control the health variables I’m able to.”
Erica says it’s a bittersweet ending to her marathon running but it’s a journey she initially never imagined possible for herself. “Although this chapter is ending it’s also the beginning of a new chapter and it feels good. I’m taking the recovery time while contemplating my next adventure and goal. I don’t have a plan yet, but I know I’ll dream up what’s next.” A big part of Erica’s next chapter is working with the Gunnison Valley Hospital (GVH) as their director of marketing and communications, which she been doing since last April. “I love it. It’s definitely helping me and helping our community in a way that’s important.”
Having written and published the story of her journey to reach for her goals, her book, Marathon Mindset for the Marathon of Life has become an international bestseller. “I think in my next chapter, I’ll be sharing my book even more,” Erica says. It’s the chapter of her life that she’s currently living now and Erica’s positive attitude finds that silver lining. “My marathons may be over, but the marathon of life continues. We all need that spark to move forward. I think this book can be inspiring for others, using my journey and this latest chapter of determination to encourage people to get after their goals in a meaningful way. And I can do more with the book now that I won’t be training for marathons.”
She’s also working on a blog project that stems from a lot of community work, talking to moms and kids about getting after their goals. It’s called determinedmom.com and it’s her intent to spread positivity, encouragement and inspiration for people in pursuit of their goals. “It’s important for people to have hope along the way, we’re taking little steps to make big goals. The beauty of the digital world is that my story is accessible to people all over the world.”
As Erica recovers from surgery, she says she may have some bike racing goals ahead. “Bike racing may be in my future upon a successful recovery,” she smiles. “Gratitude has been the backbone of every single step of this journey. It has helped me remain disciplined, overcome challenges and continue pushing forward knowing that every ounce of energy I’ve put into this journey has been totally worth it.”
