What does the red mean?

[muon2]

The phrase "the occasional beer" means a beer that is had only occasionally, that is to say that the person does drink beer, but not regularly.

The phrase "clear to California and back", gives a specific example of how she has traveled from coast to coast. The word "clear" is a colloquial usage that could be replaced by "all the way", that the whole phrase could be written slightly longer as "all the way to California and back home". She is being interviewed by a Pittsburgh newspaper, which though is not exactly on the East Coast is close enough that most readers would assume that she has traveled that far. The readers would not always assume she'd been to the much farther West Coast.

[muon2]

A retired professional ballroom dancer in Tennessee set a world record by running an entire marathon in high heels.
Irene Sewell shared photos of herself following the Guinness World Record-breaking performance as she managed to complete the 26.2-mile race in the high-heeled shoes.
"Well world, I DID IT. I'm still in shock, but it really happened," she wrote this week. "I ran a marathon today in high heels and set a Guinness World Record with two minutes to spare!"
Sewell told reporters she was inspired by the story of a British woman's quest to become the world's fastest marathon runner in heels.
"She ultimately didn't get the record. So, I was just reading about her and I thought man, with my dancing background and now running background," she said.
Sewell brought six pairs of the 3-inch stilettos ranging from size seven and a half to nine along with blister band-aids, in-soles and calf sleeves.
To top the previous record Sewell was required to complete the race in under seven and a half hours equaling a 17-minute mile pace.
"That's kind of the moment that I run for," Sewell said.
Sewell's experience as a ballroom dancer made her comfortable moving in high heels, but her podiatrist advised against training in the dress shoes.
She instead opted for "normal training for a marathon, and then throw in the high heels every now and then."

In this context it's a word used as an exclamation for emphasis. The runner could have used the word wow and the sentence would mean the same.