So a long time ago, when I was young and had a bucket list before bucket lists were invented, in 1994, I decided to run a marathon. I phoned Greg Meyer (I did not know he was famous) and his number was in the phone book. Yes it was a long time ago. He advised I run three 20-mile long runs on top of the other little runs I had been doing. I went out trained alone and did it. It was hard. I woke up the next morning and said, “I’ll never do that again…”  Well, then I met Don Kern …

As a Registered Dietitian, I joined his marathon staff and, along with Erika and Matt Chapman, we order and organize all of the food for the course, the post-race party and the Kids Marathon. The entire Grand Rapids Marathon Staff are Marathon Animal. They practically run marathons before breakfast/. So with encouragement from my husband ,George, we started running along with them and found ourselves running marathons. I now have run 18 marathons, including Boston, and most recently a marathon at the end of an iron distance triathlon. Be careful who you hang out with!