Waking up to go to work doesn't count. Stretch.

What we're talking about is voluntarily waking up before the sun does, when all your body wants to do is go back to sleep.

It's one thing to wake up at 5:30 because you have to go to work.

It's quite another to wake up this early of your own volition.

Some of us call these early-birds determined. Some of us call them self-motivated. Others just call them crazy.

Sue Oldroyd is one of these early-birds.

"I turn off my alarm," Oldroyd said. "I force myself to leave the comfort of my electric blanket, and I crawl out of bed."

And she runs.

She does it to discover just how far she can push herself.

"Running is a great way to find out who you are," Oldroyd said. "Especially when you run by yourself."

The Salt Lake City resident doesn't always run by herself, though. In fact, her friends are often the ones encouraging her to keep on going.

"My muscles are asking for a day off," Oldroyd said, "but I know my friends will be waiting for me."

Oldroyd, 51, plans to run in the Salt Lake Marathon City Marathon, the third annual, on June 3. It will be her 34th marathon - quite an accomplishment by itself - but even more impressive considering her history.

She was diagnosed with whooping cough at age 2. She's suffered from croup once or twice a year, sometimes having it turn into bronchitis.

"I remember spending many nights in the bathroom with my mother, and the steam from hot water running in the bathtub," Oldroyd said.

Over a five-year period in her thirties, she had pneumonia four times. She told her husband, Kery, "You know, this is what will end up killing me."

In 1997, a year after completing her first marathon, she received a letter from a pulmonary specialist expressing concern over her condition. Sue has a congenital heart defect - or a "tricky lung," as she calls it. The specialist suggested that her condition was serious enough that it warranted constant medication and care.

So she began slowly - one or two marathons a year.

"Since the day I started running I have not needed any medication," Sue said, "and my lungs have never felt so strong. I haven't had asthma attacks of any kind, pneumonia, or even a serious cold."

Sue's husband, Kery, has witnessed first-hand how running has affected her health, both physically and mentally.

"Running has given her a better attitude toward life," Kery said.

Kery jokes about his decision not to run marathons with his wife, despite the positive effects the marathons can have on the runners.

"I ran a 5K (roughly three miles) once," Kery said. "And then I retired."

He describes Sue as an extremist. A person who likes to go overboard with whatever she's doing.

"It doesn't matter what it is," Kery said. "Running, tennis, collecting things. If she's going to make a commitment, she jumps in with both feet."

Sue has finished as many as six marathons in one year. She admits that at age 51 she can no longer keep up that pace.

"My new goal," Sue said, "is to continue to run three marathons a year and complete my 60th marathon on my 60th birthday."

And what do you know? The Carlsbad Marathon in Carlsbad, Calif., falls on Sue's birthday in 2015. Her alarm is already set.