TABERNACLE — A township woman, who shed 260 pounds over four years, will run in her 7th marathon Sunday in Philadelphia.

Michele Elbertson, 28, weighed 427 pounds four and half years ago, according to a report from WPVI - TV. At age 23, Elbertson's doctor told her she wouldn't live much longer if she didn't lose weight.

Elbertson had lap band surgery in 2010, and by 2011 she was down about 100 pounds, the news station said.

That's when she decided to run her first 5K in Disney.

Years later, Elbertson has run 38 half marathons, 6 marathons and number of other smaller, local races, she told the news station. Elbertson completed a 50-mile ultra marathon last year.

Elbertson was featured in Runner's World magazine in advance of the Philadelphia Marathon on Sunday.

"Running not only has given me my life back with my weight loss," she told Runner's World, "but it has shown me that I am capable of much more than I ever thought was possible."

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.