Going The Distance To Save Lives
Something different drives every marathoner; 26 miles is a long way. Linda Quirk runs every step for the love of a child - and a challenge.
"If you can see it, you can do it," Quick said. "If you believe it, it will happen. So just dream big."
Quick's big dream, to run around the world, began after a nightmare.
Her step-daughter Katherine, a college party girl, became a homeless methamphetamine addict.
"That has to be wrenching as a parent," CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann asked her.
"Oh yeah. You don't sleep. We were really afraid that the next time we would get a phone call, it would be she would not be alive," Linda said.
Today, Katherine is in recovery. Her year in drug rehab cost $50,000.
She said it absolutely saved her life.
As a runner, Linda started thinking. Many addicts could never afford that treatment.
She set a goal: Seven marathons on all seven continents in one year to raise money and awareness for drug treatment.
First race? The Boston Marathon, last April.
In May she did the Great Wall of China marathon, including a stone staircase of more than 5,000 steps that led to the Chinese countryside.
But far off the coast of Chile, she never felt more alone than on Easter Island.
"It was so desolate; so lonely," she said. "I kind of felt like giving up. Felt like kind of crying. And then I said, 'get it together here.'"
Marathons four, five and six: Kenya, Iceland and Australia. Watching Linda's determination reminded Katherine of her own struggles - call it her own marathon.
"You cope. You pick yourself up. You get yourself together, and you just keep yourself going," Katherine said.
"How is the body holding up?" Strassmann asked Linda.
"The body is holding up good," she said.
She's raised nearly a quarter million dollars. And next March, one final marathon - and continent - to go: Antarctica.
But the chance now to be grandmother to Katherine's children makes every aching step worth it.
"To see her today and to watch her as a mother herself, it's incredible," Linda said. "It's the best possible feeling that you can have."
Going the distance for a child - it's every mother's marathon.
You can learn more about Linda's journey and how to support her marathon goals on her Web site.
