Laura St. Martin: runner, dancer, mom, larper, retired doctor

Have you heard the one about a retired doctor, historian, mom, live-action role player and art enthusiast entering a 5K? The kicker is that it’s all just one person – Rehoboth Beach resident Dr. Laura St. Martin. 

During last year’s Cape Gazette Run & Fun Fest, St. Martin was recorded dancing her way to the finish line during what became a viral moment on Instagram, collecting well over 5 million views and more than 100,000 likes after being shared nearly 68,000 times.

“I begin and end races by dancing,” St. Martin said. “I feel like it’s a very good warmup because I know at my age I need to actually do some stretching, and I had never been good at stretching. I started with a race that had music, and when you hear music, you dance. I felt like I did so well [at that race] because I stretched [by doing] some of the dance moves and squats and things like that. I just said, ‘You know what? I should keep this up.’ I also know it's important when you finish a race to keep moving. I'm a family medicine and preventive medicine physician.”

St. Martin retired from her job in the Department of Health and Human Services in 2022 with a rank of captain. She was primarily based in Rockville, Md., for the 24 years she worked for the federal government. She also worked for the Health Resources and Services Administration. Long trips to the family’s beach house in New Jersey necessitated a retreat closer to their Maryland home. In 2016, she purchased a home in The Grande at Canal Pointe, knowing she wanted to retire to Rehoboth Beach. During the pandemic, St. Martin began working from her Delaware home before officially retiring to the Cape Region full time.

“I used to joke before I retired that when I retired, I was going to get a job at the Spice & Tea Exchange,” St. Martin said. “Then, on my breaks, I would sit on the Boardwalk sipping tea.”

But for a woman constantly moving, retirement has been almost anything but her vision of tea-filled beach gazing. Her finish during the inaugural Run & Fun Fest last year symbolizes her approach to life in retirement.

“You really should not just suddenly stop moving after you cross the finish line,” St. Martin said. “You really should keep moving until your heartbeat approaches normal. What I do is when I finish, I keep moving by dancing, and continue with stretching and making sure my muscles aren't cramping. So that's where I was caught in the video ... at the end prancing on my toes.”

In retirement, she has been a docent for the Rehoboth Beach Museum and is now an usher for the Clear Space Theatre Company, where she has taken a fancy to the costumes and wardrobes required for performances. Developing a passion for live-action role play alongside her children, St. Martin finds herself at home in the fantasy realm.

A proud mother to a set of 24-year-old twins, Junya and Mickey, and a 21-year-old, Zephyr, St. Martin describes her children as empathetic and creative, and she thinks they are incredible. She said being an involved mom allowed her to experience things she never got to.

“There's a lot that I had to learn,” St. Martin said. “I was such a nerd and such an introvert – I didn't date in high school and barely dated in college. I really didn't date in college, not until medical school. My social development was sort of off, so I had to learn with them, and I actually had a lot of fun doing things that I wish I had done when I was a kid.”

She said her kids didn’t have to pressure her much to go to various conventions, zoos or cosplay with them. Keeping a strong bond with her children, St. Martin said they still do a lot together, even as her kids are in their 20s and two have moved away. 

One bond they never formed was running. Then again, it took a while for St. Martin to enjoy pounding the pavement.

“I joined the track team at my high school my senior year, but only because I was in danger of failing gym,” St. Martin said.

St. Martin said she figured running track would boost her athleticism, but she found her coach disinterested in helping the girls on the mostly boys' team. Little did that coach know he was ignoring a future walk-on at a prestigious school known for its academics and athletics.

“I was a walk-on for one semester at Stanford my freshman year,” St. Martin said. “I spent most of my time in the training room and I knew I couldn’t cut it.”

St. Martin downplayed her efforts, but her alma mater certainly has not forgotten, and she has fond memories of her time there.

“I got to hang out with some incredible athletes and made some good friends that are still my friends from the track team,” St. Martin said. “Stanford considers me an alumni athlete when they send out those fundraising notices.”

She did not do much running after Stanford, but she did get her brown belt in karate in the early ’80s, stopping due to the lack of safety gear at the time. She began running again in the early ’90s while dating someone who ran marathons and long distances.

“It was mainly to hang out with him on weekends – it's quite cool,” St. Martin said. “The very first race I entered was a small race that was a fundraiser for a firefighter who died and was off duty. I came in first and I was hooked.”

Getting below a seven-minute-mile pace, St. Martin said she kept with it for a few more years before life took over her schedule. She shifted her athletic focus to another form of martial arts.

“The only reason I started racing again was because I was working on my second-degree black belt in Taekwondo before the pandemic,” she said of the 10-year break from running. 

Until that point, her running was more casual and done with a lazy Labrador spaniel mix that did not enjoy cardio. But with her dojo closed due to COVID-19, she said she needed a way to burn off her energy. Relocating to the Cape Region full time, she was excited for the trails, but hip and knee injuries forced her to take up speed walking.

“Eventually I was able to run and I hung out with a bunch of runners who were very, very supportive, very friendly,” she said. “I really didn't plan to race, but I just got caught up in the energy.”

Unfortunately for those hoping to catch her completing this year’s 5K, she will only play a supporting role. St. Martin is dealing with a back injury that will keep her from running until about June.

“I'm going to cheer on some people on at the Broad Street race May 5; I did that last year,” St. Martin said.

While she may not be racing now, St. Martin is staying on the move and recently became a board member with the Delaware Historical Society, one of the few board members from Sussex County. She is one of the inaugural donors of the Creative Market and is working with it to help the West Rehoboth community. St. Martin also does consulting for a firm that reviews donor records to determine eligibility.

Despite those obligations, she’ll be supporting the runners any way she can at the second annual Run & Fun Fest, set for Saturday, May 11. 

“It’s about making the runners smile, especially when they’re doing a tough run in tough conditions,” St. Martin said.

Time will tell if her moves grab the attention of the internet, but this time she’ll be more prepared.

“To tell you the truth, when someone first told me about the video I thought, ‘Yeah, no one could ever see, no one is going to know it’s me,’” St. Martin said.

Rain or shine, running or walking, St. Martin will keep dancing, even if it is on her own.