Running for Something Bigger

I am honored to have partnered with depression2extinction because I love the idea of running and racing for a cause. I’d like my effort to be not just about me, but rather about something bigger, so that I can help others through my running. Adding to the excitement of this upcoming race is the opportunity to be running with my kids watching , as well as my sister and her two children. What a great support team!!

I grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia but have been living in Scandinavia for the past 18 years (Sweden and Finland). I have four fantastic kids who I am so proud of and who are the best thing in my life. I started running over twenty years ago largely out of curiosity! I never understood what so many people saw in running and decided to find out for myself. I guess I did find out because I have been running ever since! I decided to try training for and running a marathon three years ago just to have a concrete goal to work towards. It felt slightly out of reach and definitely a challenge so it seemed like the perfect goal. After the first marathon I just wanted to run another one, so I got the idea of running a different marathon each year.

Running makes me feel strong. It is the one aspect of my life that I truly feel is under my control. I decide when and how much I run. No one can take that from me. Running is empowering for me.

My personal goal is simply to do my very best. I really want to finish and I would like to finish under five hours, but this marathon has some variables that my first two did not: heat, altitude and terrain. Madrid can be very warm in April, it has a higher elevation than I am used to, and the course is said to be very hilly! I am really looking forward to putting my training to the test! I am quite nervous because of the variables I mentioned, but I am also really excited too.