Why I run has changed over the years. From looking for a team to join in middle school, to maintaining my identity as "the runner" in college, to supporting a cause as a 20-something in New York: my motivation and relationship with running has evolved throughout my 15 years of competition.
I started running for one simple reason: Rejection from the 7th grade basketball team. Alas, at 5-ft-nothing, I was not destined to be a Lady Tiger; so with my middle school sports dreams dashed, I turned to a much more "available" team- the Central Middle track team in its inaugural season. I joined the distance runners and soon, I found myself winning time trials at practice, local county championships and eventually high school state track meets. My senior year, I was recruited to join The University of North Carolina track & field team.
Running in Carolina Blue. I had given up scholarship opportunities at other schools to be a part of one of the country's top track programs, which ultimately led to a roller coaster of self-doubt and personal triumphs- and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to train and compete alongside some of the top collegiate runners (including then teammates, now Olympians, Shalane Flanagan, Erin Donohue & Alice Schmidt). My time on UNC's track team changed my life but also wore my competitive skin thin; eventually I hung up my track shoes, moved to New York City to begin a career in television and took a two year hiatus from running. 
Mending my relationship with running...with a trip to Hawaaaaiiiii! It was in year two of couch-potatoing that a friend and former teammate Lauren approached me with a proposition: train for my first marathon with a group called Team In Training and raise money for an organization called The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the world's largest non-profit dedicated to curing blood cancers. Not sure what I was in for and still unsure of where my relationship with running stood, I begrudgingly headed out to my first practice. Four months later, I had crossed the finish line of the Honolulu Marathon and had found a cause that made every step of the 26.2 miles worth running. 
Hooked on Team In Training. Since crossing the finish line in 2006, I've also completed the P.F. Chang's Rock n' Roll Marathon in Phoenix, AZ and the Nation's Triathlon in Washington, D.C. with Team In Training.
Shortly after my second marathon with the team, disillusioned with my work in TV, I took a job with LLS as a Team In Training Campaign Coordinator. Since March of 2008, I've worked with thousands of athletes on more than 10 TNT events. I currently manage the New York City Chapter Marathon Program, working with the Vancouver Marathon team (race date: May 2nd) and the San Diego Rock n' Roll & Lake Placid teams, to compete this June.
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