I started running in 2012. My whole life, I had been told I shouldn’t run because of chronic asthma, so I walked. But when I walked the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, I noticed that I walked faster than most people. I checked with my pulmonologist who told me running might be the best thing for my asthma. So I started running just a bit at a time. A neighbor saw me running and asked me to run with him. We started running 5Ks, and later, he challenged me to run a marathon. I ran the Bayshore Marathon in 2013. I didn’t know anything about the right shoes or clothes, and I breathed funny. It turned out all those things were just fine, and I finished faster than I thought I could.

I had a hard time calling myself a runner, but with my energy level, running was easy for me. Anyone who knows me knows I will talk if they run with me. At the Bayshore Marathon start, I was excited to run, so I met lots of people who are still my friends.

I always trained by myself and didn’t know about running groups. At the marathon, I noticed that groups of people were dressed the same, and I wondered how they did that. So I searched for running groups, and that is how I found Run GR. I met Don through Run GR, and I ran the Grand Rapids Marathon the same year as I ran Bayshore.

In 2014, it took me three tries to qualify for Boston. I qualified at the 2015 BQ2. My kids were there to hug me when I reached the finish. Three weeks before I ran the Boston Marathon in 2016, I found a lump in my breast. My oncology team helped me determine whether my treatment schedule would allow me to run Boston. They helped me get to the start line, and I had a PR that day. After the race, my watch came off because I was starting a different marathon that didn’t include steps or pace or miles. A day and a half later, I was in surgery. Shortly after surgery and chemo, Run GR held a fundraiser for me that about 300 people came to. They raised funds so I could use my own hair for the wig. At the fundraiser, my hairdresser shaved my head, and some friends also donated hair. I felt so much love, and my kids and I needed that. Imagine, I didn’t even know about running groups, and then this running group really held me up when I needed it. I really immersed myself in running and volunteering.

I felt deep love I wanted to pay forward. I sought out Girls on the Run to ask if they needed coaches. I wanted to give my energy to some girls, and it was a beautiful program. My daughter and I coached a group of girls. I thought I was going to be an inspiration to the girls, but let me tell you, it was the opposite. The girls wanted to hold my hand, and even though I didn’t feel good, I ran the 5K with the girls.

I own my own landscaping business, and I am a single mom and close with my two kids. Caleb is 22, and Brianna is 26. Don approached me to join the Grand Rapids Marathon staff as volunteer coordinator in 2019. Being on the race committee is like family to me. It is fun to be involved, to feel needed, and to have purpose. I like to get to know the volunteers, the real people taking time out of their lives to make a difference. I want them to enjoy it. Everyone is there for an experience, even the spectators. I usually connect with at least one or two people who become friends.