As MiHyang Faulks bounces around with the energy of a supercharged rubber ball, it’s hard to imagine there’s ever been a time when she stood still.

The Vicksburg resident didn’t learn to swim until she was 42. She took up running a few years later. In January, three days shy of her 50th birthday, she ran her first marathon. She’ll tackle an easier race on Saturday — the Run Thru History in the Vicksburg National Military Park.

“My husband says he has a third child now,” Faulks laughed. “I’m having the time of my life. Some people get depressed when the kids leave the house, but I don’t feel that way. Life is heavenly.”

Life has always been good for Faulks. Born in South Korea, she moved to Natchez when she was 10. At 16, she met her future husband, Jim, and the couple eventually married and had two children. They moved to Vicksburg 27 years ago and became involved in the community.

As the Faulks’ children grew up, MiHyang was involved in their activities. She practiced tennis with her son, Steven, and drove daughter Emily to scores of swim meets. And when the kids went off to college at Ole Miss, MiHyang had too much energy inside her to simply stand still.

“I didn’t want to sit home. I wanted to be out,” Faulks said.

She had never learned to swim, and took on that challenge when she was 42. At 48, she turned to running to shed a few unwanted pounds and found a new passion in running.

On her first trip to the Military Park, she met a man named Jerry Pedron. Pedron who was struggling with weight problems, was also running to get in shape. As Faulks saw him trudging through the park, she became inspired that she, too, could tackle the sport.

She befriended Pedron, and the two became running partners. She could barely run a mile when she started, but under Pedron’s tutelage she was soon competing in 5-kilometer racewalks, including the 2007 Run Thru History. Now, she runs in the park six days a week and has running on the brain.

Pedron died in August 2007. Faulks was saddened, but also inspired. She vowed to take on the running portion of the Run Thru History the following spring as a tribute to Pedron, and began training.

“He helped me, and I said if he can do it, I can do it,” Faulks said, wiping tears from her eyes as she remembered her friend. “If he could see me running now …”

Faulks finished 216th overall in the 2008 RTH, but was seventh in her age group. For her next feat, she vowed to run a marathon before she turned 50. She began training for that last September, and on Jan. 3 — three days before she hit the big five-oh — she ran in the Mississippi Blues Marathon in Jackson.

She completed the 26.2-mile run in 5 hours and 1 minute. That was a hair slower than the 5-hour goal she had set for herself, but it hardly mattered.

“Finishing was overwhelming. Around the 22-mile mark I was getting delirious. Then I saw my husband in the crowd and adrenaline just took over me,” Faulks said. “My goal was I wanted to finish within five hours. At the end, it didn’t matter. Now I’m a marathoner. Only one percent of America has done a marathon, and I’m part of that one percent.”

Since running the marathon, Faulks has run a few smaller events. She’s finished first in the less-crowded 50-55 age group in each of her last two 5K races, and is hoping for another first-place trophy Saturday in the RTH. She also plans to run the Blues Marathon again next year to go for a sub-five hour time.

“My goal is to break five hours,” Faulks said. “I know I can do it because I was overexcited the first time.”

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com