As eight other endurance athletes were still pushing their bodies to the limit and beyond in the Guam Running Club Perimeter Relay and Ultramarathon, 23-year-old Ronja Steinbach had finished the race nearly two hours earlier and was already surrounded by friends and loved ones at the finish line. In the days and weeks leading up to the 50-mile endurance race, a loop of central and southern Guam, Steinbach estimated she would finish the race in 10 hours but crossed the finish line in 8 hours, 32 minutes, 2 seconds. “I predicted I would finish in around 10 hours, so I was extremely happy with my time,” said Steinbach.
“My goal was just to finish the race.” “I am motivated by pushing myself to do hard things,” she said. “And if something is daunting, that motivates me all the more.
” Nearly a month before the ultramarathon – a two-day race that began April 27 and ended the following morning in Hågat – Steinbach won the GRC marathon and decided to test herself and enter the ultramarathon. Without ever having competed in a race longer than 26.2 miles, she embraced the new challenge cautiously.
“I had to force myself into a positive headspace even though I didn’t know what to expect and my anxieties were weighing heavily on my mind,” she said. With forced thinking in place, Steinbach’s journey began. And as the miles ticked away and pain began to persevere, especially during the uphill trek through the brutal seemingly unending hills of Humåtak, she r.
