10th female, 2021 Leadville 100; finisher, 2022 Rocky Mountain Runner's "BadAss 100"; 4th, 2023 Chicago 13.1 Half Marathon; 4:59 mile at the 2023 Mile High Mile and winner of the "Sub-5" Heat; 13th, 2023 Bakline's McKirdy Micro Marathon; have shaved 52 minutes off my time since first marathon in 2017

I live in Boulder with my husband, Guy, and dog, Jasper. My husband is an ultra runner and we met at a trail running meetup group in 2017. He was my initial inspiration to start running more seriously, albeit for much longer amounts of time. My parents, Amy and Billi, met running at Cornell and instilled a joy of sports and strong work ethic into my siblings and me from a young age. They never pushed me to run as a kid and let me find it on my own. My mom set a school record in the Indoor 3000m in 9:33 in her 1985 season and my dad holds the previous family best marathon of a 2:40! I have an older sister, Amelia, who is in her second year of medical residency and a younger brother, Keino, who is a materials science engineer and an avid soccer player, swimmer and athlete. I was fortunate to play high school soccer with my sister and we both played DI collegiate soccer. Our teams even competed against each other in 2014.

Overcoming an uncertain collegiate career and injury to become a successful, happy and healthy runner has been really fulfilling. It is exciting to think my best days as an athlete are in front of me. More significantly however, my proudest accomplishment is truly embracing the belief that I am more than just an athlete, valuing the multiple dimensions of my identity. I am so proud to be part of the mental health field and look forward to advocating for athlete mental health as part of my journey as a clinician

Much of my story has been that of underdog. I grew up in a small town in rural Colorado. I was fortunate to have parents who supported ambitious dreams, even when that meant driving me eight hours roundtrip to play club soccer so I had a better chance at getting recruited. Despite many naysayers and doubters, I achieved my dream of playing Division I soccer. After a difficult collegiate career riddled with doubt, injury and grit, I found myself ready for something new and channeled my love of competing into trail running, drawn to exercising in the outdoors. Fast forward to October 2022 and an eclectic variety of running endeavors later, and once again I found myself chasing a goal that not many others thought I could achieve, shaving 12 minutes of my current marathon PR. Sometimes, even my own belief wavered. But over the last year I put the work in, owned my process and committed fully to road running for the first time. And it worked. The training paid off. The dedication paid off. Belief paid off. If there is anything I hope people get from my story it is that you do not have to be a collegiate or professional runner, of a certain height, weight or background to reach your goals. We have the capacity to turn our range of experiences into strengths, in this sport and in life.

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right.”― Henry Ford

Too many too count! My husband and I were married in 2022, and honeymooned by climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. We celebrated our first anniversary this year summiting Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France. It has been a highlight to climb two of the seven summits together. I have also enjoyed several "fast-packing" adventures with friends including "SoftRock", the Hardrock course over three days, and the Tour de Mont Blanc over five days. Finally, I will always look back fondly on the year 2023 as I will remember it as the year I came into my own and began to realize and own my potential in the sport.