California Woman Tackles Route 66 Marathon In Father's Honor

The Route 66 Marathon is gaining speed.

It's only been around for seven years, but this year the race sold out for the first time, and 10,500 runners took to the city streets this weekend to celebrate the event.

Each runner out here has come with a goal, whether it's to beat their time from last year, or maybe just to finish or to have fun, but for one that passion stretches a little further and it's personal.

Julie Weiss is what you might consider a serious runner.

The Route 66 Marathon is her 34th race since March.

"I'm running 52 marathons in 52 weeks to raise money for pancreatic cancer and the pancreatic cancer network," Weiss said.

The idea came about after her dad lost his battle with pancreatic cancer two years ago, only 35 days after his diagnosis.

"There was nothing like the joy he got when he saw me run," runner Julie Weiss. "Everything he did, he did big and so I'm doing the same thing. I knew I had to do something big and help raise money for pancreatic cancer."

But Julie's not just running races with the help of her blog, Marathon Goddess, she's raised $107,000 for research, and she's not finished yet.

"Now I have the center of the universe in me, there's no stopping us now," Weiss said. "We're gonna beat pancreatic cancer because that's my only competitor. It doesn't matter how fast I go, all that matters is that we raise enough hope, awareness and money to beat this thing."

In eight months, Julie has logged nearly 900 miles for the cause.

And it's a feat that's hard for many to comprehend, but one that gives her more pride with every mile.

"I'm not crazy," Weiss said. "I'm just extremely passionate about finding a cure.

And with each finish line Julie crosses, she feels little closer to her goal.

Julie clocked in at five hours and 13 minutes, just in time to get her medal, fly back home to Los Angeles where she'll recover until her next run in Seattle in seven days.