St. Petersburg, Fla. -- There are many reasons why people run. For KellyAnn Jenkins, it was a way for her to stay in shape after graduating from law school.

“It was an easy thing to do, I just had to put on shoes and go outside,” said Jenkins “I didn’t have to get a gym membership, didn’t need any money.”

Jenkins started off slow by running a mile. Eventually, she started to pick up the pace.

“I started with a mile, then I signed up for a 5k. After my first 5k I thought maybe I’ll try a 10k. 10k went to a half marathon and just kept going.”

Jenkins is now an avid marathon runner and she’s got the hardware to prove it. She has dozens of medals prominently displayed on a wall in her St. Pete home.

“This one is from the Berlin Marathon, one of the World Marathon Majors. This one is from my first Boston Marathon.”

From the Boston Marathon to an Ironman Triathlon, Jenkins has pushed her body to its limits and she continues to do so. Earlier this year, she completed the World Marathon Challenge: Seven marathon in seven days on seven different continents.  

“The first race was actually in Antarctica. Antarctica was definitely the hardest race," said Jenkins. "It was so cold, running in the mix of ice and snow, running in different shoes than I would normally run in, running wiith all the gear. After Antarctica, we flew back to Cape Town and we ran a marathon in Cape Town the following morning, from Cape Town we flew to Perth, Australia, from Perth we flew to Dubai, from Dubai to Madrid, from Madrid to Fortaleza, Brazil and from Brazil to Miami. I finished at 4:30 in the morning in Miami. I had my sister and friends there and my adrenaline was through the roof.”

Not only did Jenkins complete the challenge, she also raised nearly $30,000 for those living with Multiple Sclerosis like her younger sister Christine. 

“She and I have always been really close and in 2020 she was diagnosed with MS,” said Jenkins. “So one of the things I did while training was raise money for the foundation MS Happens. All that money goes back locally to MS patients and their families for excess medical bills, cleaning services, transportation services, things like that.” 

For Jenkins, the World Marathon Challenge wasn’t just about pushing her body to its limits. It was about making a difference in the lives of people like her sister one mile at a time.