Radio personality among those ready to run in Ogden

OGDEN — Don't doubt Gina Barberi.

Those who do, well, had better watch out because this mother of three might just go out and run 13.1 miles for charity in an effort to prove naysayers wrong.

"Don't tell me I can't do something," said Barberi, one of the stars of Radio From Hell on X96, who will conquer the Ogden Half Marathon Saturday along with thousands of other runners. The races sold out long before Saturday's 7 a.m. start time.

She said she and producer Richie Steadman were approached by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training last November. They wanted to know if she and Steadman, who has run several marathons, would run a race with them in order to help raise money for research efforts to cure leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

Barberi seemed an unlikely advocate, as she's well known for her self-described sedentary ways.

About a year ago, though, she began lamenting the fact that being a working mother of three left her little time for fitness. She began a daily one-mile walk with listeners and then moved to having a personal trainer come in during the show and put her through a workout.

Still, she never once considered running any kind of race.

But the program Team in Training offers is so easy, she said, and for such a good cause, she agreed to run Ogden's Half Marathon today.

"It's a great way to do it," she said of relying on the group's coaches and support staff who map out the training program and offer encouragement as well as support on long runs. "Even on the long runs, they bring the water and snacks. It's so gradual, you work up to it, and you don't ever feel too overwhelmed."

Barberi lost her grandmother to leukemia, and the idea of running for someone else was attractive.

"It got me doing it," Barberi said of raising money for charity. "I don't think I would have wanted to do it otherwise. I needed a good excuse."

Like many women, she considers running a means to an end — weight loss.

"I won't lie, the fitness aspect was part of it," she said. "But it's not as easy to say, 'I'm not going to go running today' because you're running for people who can't go running. You think, 'If they can deal with chemotherapy, I can get up and do this.' "

Barberi's training was dealt a blow in the week leading up to Saturday's event when her ex-husband and father to her oldest son died on Tuesday.