Riverside Woman Running to 'Pay it Forward' [Updated]

Updated, 5:30 a.m.:
Riverside resident Angela Swift finished the Big Sur International Marathon with an elapsed time of 04:57:57, according to the race website. And she surpassed her goal and raised $2,516 in pledges for Kids In Crisis.

Original story, April 28:

Angela Swift is paying it forward today.

The Riverside resident is celebrating her 50th birthday a few weeks early by running the Big Sur International Marathon, the annual marathon held along the Pacific Coast in California, that ends in picturesque Carmel.

So while her friends and neighbors back here in Greenwich are sipping their Sunday coffee, Swift will be among about 7,000 runners who will endure the mountainous route.

Swift, who' a Realtor in Greenwich, began running seven years ago. "I needed to lower my cholesterol. I didn't want to be on pills to do that so I began running," Swift said. She enjoyed running so much she began training for 26.2 mile marathons.

She's run the New York City Marathon twice as well as the Marine Corps half-marathon, and Iron Man competitions. Swift also is a familiar face in the many road races each running season in Greenwich. The April 28 Big Sur Marathon —which is the West Coast sister race to the Boston Marathon—is her first West Coast run.

"I'm turning 50 at end of May. I have been really blessed, this is really a way to say to my family and friends, I don’t want any presents ... just donate to Kids in Crisis which is very special organization to me," Swift explained during a telephone interview from California. "I want to pay it forward."

There are many reasons why Swift is running in support of Kids in Crisis, the only 24-hour, 7 day a week shelter for children in the state of Connecticut.

"When we moved here 22 years ago, one of my neighbor's daughters were in a situation where they needed help. And it was Kids in Crisis that helped them," Swift said. She remains close to her neighbor's daughters—one of whom now works for Kids in Crisis, the other a paralegal.

Swift added, "Without Kids in Crisis, I don't know where they'd be. It's a great safe haven...they are there 24-7. They were there to help out in Newtown (following the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook School shooting.)"

So Swift set a goal of raising $2,500 for the shelter based in the Cos Cob section of town. And as of Sunday morning she has a little more than $2,000 in pledges. (To make a pledge:  http://www.active.com/donate/kicit/angelaswift)

"I'm not very fast. I'm like the little train that could," Swift said. She trains three days a week—running hills around Greenwich, speed training and then long runs. "Big Sur is the ultimate endurance race there are a lot of hills," Swift said.

"I'm so excited (to be running Big Sur) and I'm nervous. But the views are beautiful along the route."

Running a race nearly two weeks after the Boston Marathon and the bombing attacks at the finish line, Swift said, "I'm sure the race directors will be doing everything to ensure our safety ... Everybody who’s running will be thinking about Boston. A piece of me is doing it for them as well."

And about her cholesterol, Swift laughs when she says, "I eat healthy and I didn’t have to go on drugs … I love my ice cream and every Sunday, I treat myself to a ice cream sundae."

At the finish line will be Swift's husband Steve, who's also a runner. So perhaps they'll celebrate her finish with a sundae.