Where are you from?

Waterbury, Vermont

Current P.R.

Marathon: 3:17 (2018)

Half-Marathon: 1:24 (2020)

Typical pace

7:30min/mile (training)

Pacing: 3:45 marathons and 1:50 half-marathons

Number of marathons

50+

Occupation

Physical Therapist and Post-Doctoral Fellow

Favorite marathon

My hometown marathon: Vermont City Marathon

Hobbies

Running, Ironmans, and Hiking with my dogs

Favorite Running Food

Ultras/Ironmans: Salted Potatoes

Marathons: Caffeinated gummies 😊

What are you reading now?

The Wolfpack by Abby Wambach

Who do you train with?

By myself

Personal goals

Qualify for Ironman World Championship in Kona

A quotation you like…

“You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens.” -Mandy Hale

Why do you run?

To hit the life’s pause button and forget about everything else happening. Running is my escape from reality. It is my happy place.

Describe your best marathon memory.

The first marathon I paced. Sometimes, I feel like running puts a lot of stress on me. Most of the stress is self-inflicted as no one truly (besides myself) cares how I do. But with pacing, I never worry about how I do and instead get to worry about how everyone else does. This may sound stressful to some, but helping others achieve their goals is a great feeling. There is no better feeling than helping people push through “the wall,” to motivate them to keep going when they feel like they can’t, and to then see their smiling faces when they cross the finish line. The first time I paced, I felt like I fell in love with running again, a feeling I lost while competing in college.

Why do you pace?

I just love helping others achieve their goal. To help them when they think they can’t go anymore. Because no one is a failure that keeps trying, but sometimes this is hard to see when they are exhausted and their brain is playing mental games with them.

Tell us your best pacing experience.

My best pacing experience was for a race that didn’t have pacers. I was signed up for a race that I didn’t have time to train for, and therefore I just went to have fun. I quickly met another runner who was doing her first 50KM race. Since I have run this race multiple times, I knew the course very well. Therefore, I was able to tell her what to expect and when to expect it, when to pick up the pace and when to slow down. When we were finishing, her 4 kids were waiting at the finish line. All of them were super proud of her and gave her the biggest hug. At this time she turns around and says, “thank you.” I will never forget how proud her kids were and how happy she was.

Why should someone run in your pace group?

My jokes! Just kidding, although the last race I paced, I had one-liner jokes for every 5 miles and most people appreciated the amazing jokes I had to share. Here is a small taste of them: “Want to hear a joke about construction? I’m still working on it.”

In reality: To take out the nerves and insert the fun- As a pacer, my job is to help take all the thinking out of it, to help people calm the nerves at the start, to make sure they don’t start too fast, to make sure that they go the pace they have been training for, to make sure they don’t forget to hydrate, to motivate them when the going gets tough, to tell them when to drop the hammer if they have anything left, and most importantly to help them reach their goal.

Any tips for runners about to join your group?

Let us worry about the race and all its detail, you just live in the moment and enjoy the road to achieving your goal! Remember you have done all the hard work, you are here, and now it is our time to help you.

Anything else you’d like to share?

No one has a perfect training log; we all have bad days. Just keep showing up and never quite-and remember that if you dream of a goal you can achieve it!

What philanthropic activities do you have?

I try to increase healthcare literacy among aging adults by developing free community information sheets and give free community lectures related to various healthcare topics, including how to manage arthritis, prevent falls, and the power of exercise. I also do various free community health screenings.