Jake, Matt, Stephanie, Jodi, Harvey, Katherine...and the list goes on. These are just a few of the "runners" Anita has inspired to put on a race bib and start running - every distance from the 5K to the marathon. Anita has that effect on people.

Anita started running in 1998 when she was 47 years old. Always having a love of exercise and being fit, she credits her father - who was active throughout his life - for instilling this quality in her. But when she started running in her late 40's, she says it "was more difficult than any other exercise I'd ever done. I was challenging myself in ways I'd never been challenged - competing against my own body and my own will." But Anita stuck with it, and now at 61 years old, she has run 23 marathons and scores of shorter races, evidenced by the 350+ race bibs she has collected. According to Anita, one of the craziest things she's ever done was Disney's Goofy Challenge, where she ran a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday. She says, "You have to be a little 'Goofy' to do something like that."

When Anita started running, she was living in upstate New York - in the winter. Not knowing exactly how to get started, she enlisted the help of John Landis, a running coach. Anita ran in cold, snow, and rain. John was amazed at her tenacity, and says about her, "I never found someone so motivated." Anita credits John with "bringing out the toughness in her." As it happened, John was training to run the Disney Marathon, and after training Anita and being inspired by her perseverance and determination, he gave her an entry to the Disney Marathon as a birthday present. Little did he know that his gift was more than just a marathon entry - it was the beginning of her love for long-distance running.

As Anita continued to run races of all distances, her enthusiasm began to rub off on others - namely, her kids and her husband. Her three kids - Jake, Matt, and Stephanie, as well as her niece Jodi - are all now long-distance runners, and her husband, Harvey, her "best friend and biggest supporter," is running 5K races.

In addition to inspiring her family members to run, Anita has encouraged others as well. Her friend Katherine Barski said this about Anita: "Running bridges all gaps: race, gender, age. Anita is well over 15 years older than I am, and we became life-long best friends through running. She inspires me to keep going as I age. I hope to be as fit and strong as Anita when I am her age. She is tougher and in better shape than I am now. I also love how running for the Reibels is a family affair. I'm honored to be an 'adopted' Reibel."

In the past year, Anita has been battling a few injuries, but Katherine continues, "Even with her recent injury, she has remained tough mentally and physically and continues to encourage me and others with their running." Anita credits her progress to Lori Buksar, a Ki-Hara practitioner, and Steve Sierra, Ki-Hara founder. Lori introduced her to Ki-Hara and to Steve, who is now Anita's Ki-Hara coach. Ki-Hara Resistance Stretching is a technique that utilizes a person's own resistance in the strengthening and elongating of muscles. Steve has helped Anita become "super strong and flexible."