Mother. Actress. Author. Bikini Model. … And now, at age 49, Valerie can add runner to her resume. 

This April, to celebrate her 50th birthday, Valerie will be running in the Boston Marathon, on behalf of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Last July, Valerie ran the Napa-to-Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon in 2 hours, 12 minutes, 19 seconds – finishing the 13.1-mile race in the top one-third of all competitors and accomplishing a major goal:

“I was not an athlete growing up, and I was running with some people who’ve been doing it since they were 10,” she said. “I want to show everyone there’s more we can do with our bodies – anybody can do this at any age.”

Valerie started running regularly at the end of 2008 when she began working with personal trainer Christopher Ross Lane to get into shape for her March 2009 bikini photo shoot. Knowing that the camera adds 10 pounds, Valerie wanted to drop body fat and get under her maintenance weight for the bikini picture. Running was an effective way to build cardio endurance and get to her goal.

• More Photos of the Half-Marathon

“After she did the bikini pose, I think there was a little bit of an emotional let down,” explained Valerie’s longtime boyfriend, Tom Vitale. “That’s when the half-marathon became a goal.”

Valerie started with short, slow jogs, alternating with walks, followed by a strict regimen of icing any aches and pains. As she and Tom became more comfortable with running, Christopher gradually increased the workload, eventually doing runs of five, six and seven miles, building up to their first double-digit run the week before the big race.

“My goal for them was to finish in about two-and-a-half hours,” Christopher explained. “And she finished in 2:12. That’s the equivalent of you getting on a treadmill and running at level 6.0 for 13 miles. She blew me away.”

Winding through the picturesque California wine country, the Napa-to-Sonoma Half Marathon benefits the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, the Hanna Boys Center residential treatment facility, the Pat Tillman Foundation, Vineyard Workers Services and the Sonoma Unified School District. More than 2,200 men and women finished sixth annual event. Volunteers lined the streets, cheering on the runners as they passed.

“I was very nervous before the race,” Valerie recalled. “I felt like I had a responsibility to do better for the people that are depending on me. I knew my body could do it – but the hard part was mental. If I could just wrap my head around it, I could do it.”

The race presented its own set of challenges. Christopher had planned for Val and Tom to take a walk break, eat a quick snack and drink at every water stop in order to stay energized throughout the race. In fact, Christopher kept his “fashion statement” fanny pack stuffed with Jelly Belly Extreme Sport Beans and PowerBar Nut Naturals to fuel the team.

At the 4-mile mark, Val felt great and wanted to continue onward with Christopher, but Tom and Christopher’s boyfriend Colin Dusenbury decided to stick with the plan. Unfortunately, the snacks were stuck in Christopher’s fanny pack.

“After the 8-mile mark, I was starting to look at the food people had dropped on the ground – some of it was still wrapped and it looked tempting… but I just drank my fluids and kept going,” Tom admitted. “The last bit of the race, I was really dragging. To finish 8 minutes behind her, I was very proud of myself, and she did it with energy to spare.”

At 2 hours, 20 minutes, 20 seconds, Tom finished 61st in his age group. When they started training, Tom asked Christopher to get him “to the point where I enjoy long-distance running.” Mission accomplished.

“Tom is such a natural athlete,” Christopher said. “He came in at 2:20 and ran an incredible race. Because of his work schedule, he wasn't able to train as consistently as Val, and I was so impressed with him.”

Val’s challenges came during the ninth mile and she began to feel as though the next water stop would never come. Small “anthills” towered like mountains in her mind’s eye.

“I kept thinking, ‘When is this going to be over? Girl, I don’t know if you can do this,’” she recalled. “Then I’d tell myself, “No, you can do this – you’ve done 11 miles before.’ That’s when Pink will bring you through.”

Plugging the driving rock of Pink into her iPod had pulled Valerie through many a training run, and Christopher was concerned that she would run too hard during the early part of the race. He had devised hand signals to remind her to slow down.

“When she puts her music on, she starts to get off pace,” Christopher said. “We wanted to finish really strong, and she had enough energy to come flying across the finish line.”

Valerie hit her stride when she turned onto Main Street in Sonoma and the finish line came into view.

“Christopher kept saying, ‘Pick it up! Pick it up!’” Valerie remembered. “I thought I was running really fast, but everything was going in slow motion. When I looked at the pictures, my legs looked like I was running hard, but I felt like I was moving in slow motion.”

Toasting the end of the race with a glass of champagne, Tom summed up the emotion of the day:

“Seeing her was wonderful,” he said. “The finish line represented the end of several months worth of training. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry. I wanted to ice my knees. It was so surreal” 

Icing their knees and ankles helped their joints in the days that followed, but only time could ease the soreness in their legs. Valerie said her thighs were so tight in the days that followed, she had trouble sitting down and even getting up off the toilet!

After the race, Valerie, Tom, Christopher and Colin went to a Mexican food restaurant to celebrate their accomplishment and refuel after the grueling run. As Valerie sipped a margarita perused the menu, she saw a reminder of her old self.

“They had jalapeno poppers on the menu,” she said, remembering a comfort food from the days before she started a healthy eating plan with Jenny Craig and a new exercise regimen with Christopher. “After running a half-marathon, I thought I could actually eat some jalapeno poppers – but the restaurant was out of them! So I guess I’m just not allowed to have jalapeno poppers anymore!”

Valerie and Christopher have now set their sites on the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon - one of the most prestigious races in the country. Valerie will increase her mileage and continue her strength-conditioning to increase her level of fitness and work to prevent injury as she trains for the big race.

“This wasn’t just another celebrity running a race,” Christopher said of Valerie's finish in Sonoma. “We were in the top third of all finishers, and that’s a seriously impressive time. I don’t want her to be the celebrity that’s running a race. I want her to be the celebrity to beat!”