Writings of a Runner — THAT PRETTY RUNNER

Making my running portfolio and short story drafting has been funny, finding all my course maps and times and thinking of all the memories.

mile repeats in the park perfecting my teenage cross-country techniques so I would start my first semester of fancy college with Saint Josephs College of Maine as my vision being a real athlete in the marathon road race event. There was a feeling of confidence in finishing the entire event, being comfortably uncomfortable running ten miles in xc training, while also a feeling of butterflies toeing the line as I had never really run more than fifteen miles in my training for a twenty-six-mile road race. Why would an unfinishable event exist with such immense popularity, and when would I ever be in better running shape or be more fit to give it a shot?

My eighteen-year-old feet dressed in hot pink minimalist sneakers compressed in tight knit white chevron style socks sprung through the full Maine Marathon Finish line in a little over four hours and fifteen minutes. The muscles of my fit tone runner legs were incredibly tight, nevertheless my skinny teenage girl runner's body finished this extremely long road race. One foot in front of the other, one step at a time, springing my feet, springing my long light legs after months of training all summer long through to the finish line of this treacherous twenty-six-mile course without stopping on the final stretch.

Bringing my entire being through the finish line made me someone.

1812 Half Marathon

13.1 Miles finished, on the haunted battlefields I played in so many lacrosse tournaments on all those years growing up. I finished this course in the rain and went to class the next morning.

Part of training for my full marathon a month later....

Empire State Marathon 2014

There were still blisters on the bottoms of my feet the summer after my first full marathon the previous October. So defeated from ruining my body to finish a high-end event, I felt certainly this had to really mean something to complete an entire full marathon course as a sport, especially as a teenage girl. I must have been running this distance for God.

This extremely long treacherous road race of about forty-two kilometers gave my high school cross country runner technique of running mile repeats or ten mile Sunday long runs, purpose. All those years of training with a tough coach to run a five-kilometer course well, evolves into so much more footing.

Never fathoming the feeling of completing an entire marathon course the first time around, the second time coming I reasonably had an idea of what I had signed myself up for. Training my still growing young body specifically to run long far distances in the road race, with my previous experience reassured my teenage runner mind to take the risk hoping to conquer the course this time in my city of Syracuse, starting by the baseball stadium.

I finished every mile of the entire course in like four hours.

Cooperstown Marathon 2015:

Dropped out under 6 miles in because it was 90 degrees with sporty car traffic in June.....

Empire State Marathon 2015

Three years into the 26.2-mile event was still very early. My mind remembered the feeling of pain crossing my first finish line two years previous with all those rolling hills upon hills in the city of my college life. My body remembered one year earlier crossing the finish line in a flat fast course of my home city. Both events finished with purpose, realized during the moment and later in life. Deciding between running alone in Portland or flying home to Syracuse, I made the choice to fly home to compete in Empire once again, hoping to finish the entire course.

I did it.

MDI Marathon 2016

One of my idols in the marathon event introduced me to the idea of running the Mount Desert Island Marathon the week after my first Maine Marathon, in lieu of the NYC Marathon. I never understood how to apply to run the NYC or Boston marathon, or be in the lottery, and I could easily register to be in the MDI Marathon for a hundred dollars and a charity race bib.

Instead of rolling hills, this course was all rolling hills and mountains in salty sea air.

I finished the entire course and kissed my grandmama on the cheek after crossing the finish line.

Maine Marathon 2017

My senior year of college after going on my Haiti service trip with school, and having my full time job for five years out of school felt like a time to shine in a victory lap marathon year. The physical memory of my first finish in the Maine Marathon was far enough in the back of my brain to toe the starting line again.

I finished the entire course again.

New Orleans Marathon 2019

Being 23, after years of devoting my body to the marathon distance with hopes of qualifying for elite shorter distances as well made me feel overcome with emotion, in the search for something with the perfect combination of elite and exciting. Having all the marathons but never the 5k or mile felt similar to having the nursing job with the big hospital but never going out to have fun. Day in and day out of only caring for my hospice patients, and only doing everything my boyfriend wanted at the same time my elite shorter distance were just unforeseen after years of training to death, my sweet escape had to happen. Finishing all these marathons during my fast competitive years it felt defeating to be missing a queen moment in shorter distance events I loved so much my entire life. How could running make me happy while having purpose?

So, I decided my patients would still be alive if I were to go on a vacation weekend dipping into my savings on a rare occasion while jet-setting from JFK in downstate New York all the way down to New Orleans Louisianna with just my backpack and a dream. My flight landed, a nice lady drove me to the convention center where I officially registered to run the Rock ’n’ Roll full Marathon of NOLA.

I finished the entire glamorous course

I went back to work the Monday night afterwards as if I never left, my legs were very tight and all my patients were still alive waiting to listen to my fabulous stories of the weekend.

MDI 2019

My favorite full moon and sunset ever is on Mount Desert Island, and the only reason I have ever traveled all the way there is to run the full marathon. The event that combines my specialization in running with my destiny nursing career promoting finding cures for childhood illnesses, running for God; marathon running is glorifying if everything falls into place.

I felt happy to be with my family in my favorite destination, running with purpose.

I finished the entire course again, at 24 just like when I was 21.

Great NYS Marathon 2022-2025

A year after surgery to fix an injury from an accident, my lifelong sport in the running era had begun, competitiveness combined with elite stardom dreams were in the past, and my motivation was all the right reasons. Running for God, and running to promote finding cures for childhood illnesses, brought my feet through the finish line of a full marathon running around the Onondaga lake in my home city twice for three years in a row, and from the fairgrounds out to Baldwinsville and back the one year looping the lake twice had not been the course route.

Four years in a row I finished!

Maine Marathon 2024

I wanted something special to happen for my ten-year marathon anniversary, so I waited one more time to run the Maine Marathon again for my eleventh anniversary. Thinking this would be my retirement year from the event, I decided to really throw myself out there risking the soul behind the running, by signing up for the Maine Marathon full as well as the Great New York State Marathon just two weeks apart from each other. At this point in my running life, I felt as if the worst thing that could happen would be dropping out of the second event if I was too tired.

I finished the full Maine Marathon for my eleventh anniversary. Not knowing if my first would be my last or if there were more official event miles in my future.

The same month, I finished the Great New York State Marathon, two weeks later, taking a two-week break from running in between unless showing up to work every day counted as a workout.

How did I finish the hardest event I had ever run in my life twice in one month? How did I run another full marathon one year later for my twelve-year anniversary?

Mountain Goat 2024 & 2025

Even though, the marathon was my ultimate long-distance event at 26.2 miles, my entire life growing up in the running world of Syracuse, I always wanted to run the Mountain Goat 10 miler. I had always thought people would run across the country just to run the Mountain Goat, and this race is something I had to run faster than all my uncles ever. 2024 was fast on all those hills of drummers, around the mountain goat statue all through the city. 2025 there was pouring rain the entire event all through the city of Syracuse, and I finished twenty minutes slower than the year before.

Shamrock Run Tipp Hill 4 miler

Parking at the Blarney Stone, walking to the start, finishing the entire course, walking back to the bar. 2026

2025, freezing and finishing the entire thing.