I was a part of WMU’s Track/Cross Country Team for six years. During my time there I placed 3rd and 4th in the 5/10,000m at the Mid-American conference in 2021 and 2022. After graduating in Spring of 2022 I decided to start training for marathons! I raced Indy Monumental as my first, with crazy 22+ mph winds, hitting a time of 2:50. My next marathon was this past May where I won the Toronto marathon in 2:42:55! In the summer I decided to test my grittiness and ran with an amazing group of runners at the Michigan Outback Relay (aka Great Lakes Relay). 270+miles through Michigan’s wilderness over the course of three days, definitely not for the faint of heart, and I had so much fun doing it! My latest highlight is achieving an OTQ this past fall!

My parents were very active growing up, competing on their high school’s soccer, track and field, and basketball teams. My mom was more of a long distance runner and my dad was more of a sprinter. After graduating, my dad served for five years in the Air Force and I am very grateful for his service. My younger brother, Ryan, is also a long distance runner and is on WMU’s club track team.

Qualifying for the Trials! When I first met my marathon coach, Esther Atkins, I told her my goal was to run a sub-3hr marathon. I never would have thought that a year and a half later I would be running 24 minues under my goal and have an amazing opportunity to run with America’s elite marathoners! I have overcome a lot as a runner, especially in my early college years. Freshman me would be so amazed and so proud of where she is now! I know I am! I live for moments of feeling like I’m a part of something bigger than myself and I definitely felt that when achieving my OTQ goal. My #1 professional accomplishment to date is being accepted into University of Michigan’s Hand Therapy Fellowship! They accept only one fellow a year and I was lucky enough to get a spot! I was inspired to become an occupational therapist after receiving hand therapy during my recovery from a horseback riding accident when I was 15. Going through surgery and upper extremity rehabilitation has given me the experience of what clients are going through and how I can help them. I believe that everything happens for a reason and experiencing an event like this led me down a path to finding my life's career. People use their hands to experience the world and find purpose in life. It is fulfilling to see a patient regain functional use of their hands to continue doing meaningful activities.

Being able to balance working full time as an OT and putting in marathon training is nothing short of intense. OT by day and runner by night seems to be my motto and I am so grateful I get to do both. Yes there are days I don't feel like running in the pitch black after a 10-hour+ day but I have enough runner craziness in me to get me out the door. Being consistent and showing up is the epitome of my training. Here's to us full-time working marathoners out there crushing goals and chasing big dreams!

“The road to success is always under construction.” - Lily Tomlin

I love the memories I made when running GLR (a three-day relay) this past summer! Going off the grid and running some insane trails in the deep woods of northern Michigan was so much fun and I got to know some pretty awesome people along the way! My team OUKnow will be back this summer!