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390 Pounds Down, and I’m Training for My First Marathon

Since I lost 390 pounds, I have been training for a marathon. This has been a goal of mine for over two years now. I never ran a mile in my life until I turned 32. Even when I was a kid, I couldn’t run a mile in gym class—I was always the last one […]

Running Groups and Sisterhood: How Black Girls Run Changed My Running Journey

There was once a time when I hated running. You couldn’t get me to run ten feet. A little bit of healthy sibling rivalry changed that for me. Over the past two years, I watched my sister complete half and full marathons, collecting medals along the way, and decided to give running more of a […]

Running Down My Two Biggest Fears At The Boston Marathon

Everyone has their own story about why they run. My story begins with fear. When I was in eighth grade, both of my grandmothers died of cancer within two months of each other. Last year, my wonderful cousin died of melanoma, at the age of twenty-two. The thought of losing anyone else I love to […]

How to Run Your First Half Marathon

I remember the day before my first half marathon in 2012 vividly. I wanted to throw up, eat everything, and cry, all at the same time. So naturally, I turned to Google to ask the age-old question, “How the (insert expletive here) do you run a half marathon?” So I tumbled down a rabbit hole similar […]

Global 5k: The Results Are In!

What does 101,561 runners taking part in the same 5k look like? 79,125 hours, or just over 9 years worth of running, tracked in a single day. 42.6 million calories, or in food terms: 18,800 fourteen-inch pizzas, 68,100 bottles of wine, or 177,300 sushi rolls. Yum! 13,459 personal best 5k times (that’s over 10% of […]

5 Things I Learned from My First 5k

On October 7th, 2012, I woke up extremely early bursting with nervous excitement for my first ever 5k. Race day was a blur but I remember debating my race day outfit (should I wear long sleeves or short!?!) and whether or not to chat during the race or listen to music to help me zone in. I remember making the turn […]

16 Pieces of Advice for Anyone Running Their First Race

We asked the Runkeeper community what advice they would give to a runner who was about to run their very first race. Here’s what they had to say: 1. “Don’t stress about it—you can always walk!” –@AnaLiss0 2. “You’ll always remember your first race. Do your best, but make sure to enjoy it.” –@SmartWatermelon 3. […]

My Experiences as a Guide Runner for the Boston Marathon

When Josh Warren, of the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, first asked me to guide at Boston 4 years ago, I of course said yes. But shortly after agreeing, I also became the most nervous and anxious I’d been in a long time. I instantly started sweating, and I hadn’t even laced […]

I Ran the Boston Marathon in the Pouring Rain and It Was the Coolest Thing I’ve Ever Done

Nothing like some spoilers in the headline. But really. I could tell you I wasn’t a nervous, miserable wreck before it all started but that would be a lie. The rain forecast amplified that anxiety about 10 times. The good thing is I don’t actually remember what all that feels like. All I remember is […]

Finding My Run: My First Boston Marathon

I originally started running for the same reason that a lot of people do—because I was coerced. In my hometown high school back in rural upstate New York, choosing not to participate in organized sports essentially branded one as an outcast. Since I wasn’t coordinated enough for anything besides running, and since the cross-country team […]