MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- One's an ex-model who is having an affair with the gardener, one is the divorcee and single mom who will go to great lengths for love, one is the ex-career woman who is the mother of four difficult children and one is "Martha Stewart on steroids." That's right; it's the award-winning, comedic series The Desperate Housewives. The United States has been eating up each episode, sitting at the edge of their couches through each dramatic event. As more and more "housewives" are stamped desperate, these two women slipped through the grips of American culture. Bonnie Lewis and Jennifer Medillin, military spouses, accomplished something most people wouldn't even dream about. They participated in the 58th annual Mt. Fuji race, against over 5,000 other competitors, July 22. Both women competed in the 15 kilometer race to the 5th Station on the mountain, which consisted of paved roads, gravel and rocks."It was pretty much what I expected because everyone said it was really hard," said Lewis who came in at a blazing time of 2 hours, 32 minutes. "At some points you had to use ropes and limbs to pull yourself up the mountain."Enduring what the unforgiving mountain put in their path, Lewis and Medillin had motivation pumping through their blood as each pulse rang through their ears. "I was double-dog dared to enter the race," said Medillin who crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 40 minutes. "Turbo (Tadamasa Uemura, Marine Corps Community Services IronWorks recreation specialist) not just dared me, but double-dog dared me to enter the race and I wasn't going to back down and lose."Lewis saw it more as a golden opportunity to exercise one of her passions. "Being stationed here in Japan, it (the race) was a chance to do something different, to go up Mt. Fuji. I do different races everywhere we get stationed."There are stages the body hits when enduring extreme physical training. For these women, the thought of quitting came and vanished like the clouds rolling along the mountain. "I knew my family was waiting for me at the finish line so I knew I couldn't quit," said Medillin. "They were my motivation to keep going. Whether I was going to take four hours to finish, I was going to finish."They both crossed the finish line with impressive times and felt literally on top of the world. "I felt awesome after finishing, very happy," said Lewis. "I was like 'Yeah! I Rock!'" exclaimed Medillin. "I was so surprised I finished that fast."The race wasn't a lonely trek for these women. Each were supported by family and friends along the way. "I was extremely proud of my wife," said Robert Medillin, supporting spouse. "I support her in all of her runs. She really likes participating in them and I really like watching her do them.""When Bonnie came across the finish line I felt like everything she had done to get to this point was well worth it," said Brian P. Fogarty, friend of Lewis.For other individual who may or may not be thinking about endeavoring what these women have, it is an accomplishment worth persevering for. "When I first started running I could only go for about half a mile," explained Lewis. "Then I started going for three miles, then five kilometers, then half of a marathon and now full marathons. If you go out without any training you'll hate it or get an injury. But if you train hard and do marathons you'll have a lot of fun.""I say go for it!" said Medillin. "Make it a goal and train for it. For people who don't think they can do it, how are you going to know if you don't try?"