Las Vegas woman wraps up U.S. run

“I was armed with nothing but my innate curiosity and a quest for enlightenment,” Helene said. “I was determined to run across every state in the United Statesinspireunity, hope and health. It was a test of will and faith. Walk, crawled. I just kept moving. I kept telling myself to run, and when I couldn’t run, I walked, when I couldn’t walk I crawled.”

Now Helene will raise the necessary funds to run across Alaska and Hawaii so that she can represent all 50 states in the union on a run across Cuba.

Helene told me: ”Physically, I feel great. I feel better, faster, stronger, because it was tough in the beginning, even though I felt like I was pretty well-trained with the kind of training I did, but you know we had all those obstacles, the hills, the heat, the altitude, pneumonia — everything you can think of — and just lots of concrete on some of the interstates. I was able to get past all that, and I think I felt this relief and euphoria when I hit the state of Nevada in Wendover and then started in Mesquite, it was just a sprint from there back home to Las Vegas.

Q: How mentally do you overcome things like walking pneumonia? How do you do it?

A: Just time. You just have to keep getting out there. I mean, when I look back and think about, I went in the hospital on day two, and then everybody in the community rallied around. Day Two, I’m in the hospital, it just hit me, that anoxia to your brain and you can’t think, you can’t finish a sentence, I was staggering and I was in like this stupor, staggering down the highway the whole time. I was only able to do like eight to 10 miles, so it took me 30 days to get out of Wyoming, I thought it was going to take six but when I look back and think, no wonder people think I’m crazy because I got out of the hospital and got right back out on that road even though I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew I had to go East.

Q: Are there times when you do literally forget what you’re doing and where you’re going?

A: I did then because I was sick but, sometimes I’d get lost — but no, not really. I mean I’m pretty focused. I’d forget that … I mean my foot might be bleeding and I’m just out there and you have to run until the next house, the next meal, whatever. The hours or mileage you’ve put in you keep going until you get to it. I had altitude sickness. I started out with a broken rib. The concrete just beat my feet up a lot. The ankles and … I mean, I cried so many times along this run. The people always came out and helped me. It was nothing but hills the entire way. Up and down, up and down, the whole way, and the heat was horrid.

The toughest part was maybe the beginning. I almost quit. May 21, I just stayed up all night deciding if I should go on or not because I was so sick from, navigating. That lack of oxygen in my brain and I was hallucinating. I was so glad, one day, the lady at the hotel sat right by my bed all night. They all remember me because on the way back through here I had to go through Evanston, and they were like, “Yep, we remember who you are.” All I did was just stagger around. I couldn’t eat. It was something unexpected when you don’t have any control over … It’s like, really, being on drugs where you have no control. Being drugged. I couldn’t shake it. I couldn’t see straight. I couldn’t think straight. It was all because a lack of oxygen

I had no plan, and even without a plan, people came out and were there and helped. They just want … People say I make a difference, but it’s because I allow them to make a difference. I just couldn’t believe the way people came out and helped me.

Q: Looking over the five runs now, was it worth doing?

A: Oh yeah. I loved it. I’m so glad I kept going. It cost … You sacrifice, you know, a full-time job, your income, and … But, it’s something that’s never been done solo by a woman and I’m glad that … I feel proud that I was the one to be able to do it, that I was the one that did it. If I quit, and all those times I wanted to quit, people can say, “See, yeah. You can’t believe in the impossible because nobody can do it.”

So, every day I just challenge myself that … I was counting on myself to stay … to be a leader by example, stay out there. To prove that without money, questionable health, whatever it may be, we can still dream and maybe even give it a go. I like the extreme. That makes it … Hey, if I can do that and people see me and, “Hey she’s fought cancer, she’s over 50, she’s this and that.” We only have one shot, you know? At making every day count and living it to the fullest. I don’t even think about my age. I take it on like a job. So out on the road is my office. You know, you hear trucks and … but I love doing it and it’s not about running, although it is a pretty big feat. It’s about, somewhat being (in) fear — having a little fear … needing help — or (being) helpless — and offering that up to strangers rather than being on guard, fearing the worst; you go out and expect the best. If you put it out there it comes back and I just ran all those miles across every state and it happened. People are just amazing. Despite any circumstances, where they live or … They all want to help and give.

Q: You look at this particular run, the 12-state run, did you learn anything new or different than the other four?

A: That’s a good question. I did lose focus this time, sometimes I didn’t eat when I was supposed to. My health was questionable the entire time. The altitude sickness, the ear infection. So, all those things broke my focus, that zone. In the other four runs, I ran 2014, the last 300-plus miles with a broken heel, but it didn’t bother me. I think maybe God wanted me to slow down … like these illnesses, so I could observe and really live in the moment and see … I never really looked back to think about how hard it was. Now, when I think back at all those runs, or if I’m driving on a road that I ran, it’s like, “I can’t even believe I did that.”

“Don’t be afraid to dream big. Follow that dream. Find your spark and bring it to life.”

SEXXY SLOTS

• “Sexxy” star and choreographer Jennifer Romas unveiled her new slot machine with her seven torrid topless dancers at her Westgate home and promptly hit the jackpot of her three images in a row. Jennifer cut the purple ribbon in a salute to her Cabaret Theater co-star Jason Tenner, who stars in the award-winning Purple Reign tribute show to Prince. The glamour girls in hot pants and tailored tuxedo jackets crowded around the first four machines on the Westgate’s casino floor to feed in the dollar bills. “This is fun,” squealed Jennifer as she collected her winnings. “It’s also an extraordinary honor to have your very own slot machine and is a real tribute to us hitting our 600th show. That’s quite an achievement.”

CONGRATULATIONS:

• To former supermodel Kim Alexis, who was in the middle of filming her new “Food Quest” series for the Food Network when her state senator boyfriend from Arizona went down on bended knee to present her with a custom-designed engagement ring. She accepted the proposal! The twosome will marry in Phoenix early November after a “Food Quest” shooting trip to the Hard Rock Hotel here on Oct. 10 and 11. They’ll honeymoon right afterward in Hawaii and combine it with some more filming for Kim’s new series.

TONIGHT’S TIPS:

• It’s opening night for the premiere of “WOW” — call it World of Wonder or World of Water — at the Rio. The circus-styled, water-bound spectacular with its acrobats and artists has played to millions in Israel and Europe and has added “America’s Got Talent” semifinalist Silvia Silvia, a crossbow archer, who picks off almost impossible targets with her bow and arrow. She can shoot two balloons at once with two crossbows and shoots five crossbows at the five balloons around her husband, fellow circus performer, Victor Ponce.

• Honey Salt restaurant in Summerlin celebrates the end of the season with a farewell-to-summer farm table dinner.

• DJ Shift welcomes Julian Jordan as his sidekick at Omnia nightclub in Caesars Palace.

• DJ Hollywood makes the stars shine at The Dorsey in The Venetian.