Why I'm Running: 

While I don’t wish to publicly share my personal connection to this very important cause, I will share some of my running journey. 

But in my mid-20’s, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and needed to learn how to take care of myself differently. I slowly began moving my body more and one step at a time I was able to walk regularly which helped ease my symptoms.   

Then a few years later, my dad passed away suddenly from a cardiac arrest. Because of this traumatic loss, I decided that I needed to get my heart muscle into better shape. I began incorporating running into my workouts, with grief fueling my runs. Running not only helped me to physically gain strength, but it also became my mental health therapy and would get me through some pretty dark times throughout the years. 

Over time, I grew to love the runner’s high and became dependent on my daily workouts to keep my autoimmune symptoms at bay and maintain my mental clarity. I even created a local running club to find other people like me! To date, I have run over 2,500 miles, countless 5Ks, and 4 half marathons. My journey hasn’t always been easy. I’ve had some injuries along the way and have been told twice that I would never run again. Most recently, after injuries sustained during the birth of my 2nd child (who came out weighing a whopping 11 pounds 6 ounces!), I have gone from barely being able to walk, to completing a 10k earlier this year! I thought running might never be possible for me again, but with the help of my awesome physical therapists and care team, I’m working towards getting my body to be fully functioning again. And as a prize for all this hard work, I plan to finish the Chicago Marathon this October!