Current Residence: Simpsonville, SC

Hometown: Simpsonville, SC 

Qualifying Race and Time: Bakline McKirdy Micro Marathon 2023; 2:36:41

How did you feel when you qualified? What was that experience like? I felt incredible when I qualified. It was a huge goal, and I knew I needed a 5 minute PR to make it happen. I knew that as confident as I felt in my training, there was still a large chance it might not happen. I felt good in the race for most of it, but by mile 23 my legs started to give up on me. I started to doubt if I’d be able to keep the pace and finish under 2:37, especially since the pacer was gone. By mile 24.5 I had hit another wall and was barely hanging on. But then I reminded myself of how hard I had worked, how much I wanted this, and how upset I would be if I gave up after 24.5 miles with less than 2 to go. So I dug deep and found some new energy hidden within to keep pushing. I played the sounds of my children’s laughter in my head to distract from the present pain. It felt like a sprint that last little bit, and I stopped looking at my watch at the end. I didn’t know if I was under the time or not, but as I was approaching the finish line I saw that I was under 2:37.  As soon as I crossed the line, I collapsed into my teammate’s arms stuck somewhere between crying and laughing. Then the emotions took over again when I hugged my coach. The whole training cycle I reminded myself of 2 things: you can’t achieve big things if you don’t set big goals…and I CAN do it. That was the moment I realized I was right all along.

What dream are you chasing at the Trials? My goal for the trials is to keep improving on my current fitness and run another PR, because why not? 😉 But also, with the pressure to qualify gone, I want to enjoy that race and savor the experience that few people get to claim.