1. How long have you been running and why did you start running? I started in middle school but only to keep in shape for soccer. I never really liked running unless it was for soccer until after college. Then, in graduate school, I ran Hood to Coast. Afterwards, I started meeting friends a few mornings a week to run. That continued through my 20s, until I decided to run a marathon before I turned 30, which I did and inadvertently qualified for Boston.
2. How long have you been part of TRL, and what drew you to the club in the first place? 2013. I remember meeting Rick at a race in December 2012 which is how I learned about the club. I am very social so any opportunity to run with people, I usually take. I ran my first XC race (ever) in Fall 2013 at Pier Park, which was fun and challenging. I really enjoyed the team aspect of running XC and for the most part, haven’t missed many XC seasons since then (2014 I was pregnant; 2018 recovering from breast cancer; 2023 foot fracture).
3. What do you do when you’re not running (job, family, school…whatever it is you’d use to introduce yourself outside of running)? I am in my 26th year of teaching high school students. The first nine years was teaching social studies at Milwaukie High School, where I also coached varsity girls soccer, track, and cross country. Since then, I have been teaching at a charter school, in person and online. I also have a 10-year-old daughter in 4th grade. I have coached her soccer team for the past 2 years and transport her to all her activities—lacrosse, singing, OBOB, school activities, etc.
4. What’s your favorite distance/type of run (5K, half-marathon, marathon, ultras, relays, track, trail, etc.)? For racing, shorter distances have been preferable recently—5k to 10k. My favorite race course the past few years has been the XC race at Mary S. Young. As for weekly runs, my favorite is the once-a-week track workout.
5. Where is your favorite place to run in the greater Portland area? The Portland Waterfront Loop. Since I live in West Linn, we always start from Sellwood Park, so we actually call it the “Sellwood Loop.” It is a favorite because most of it is flat—running in West Linn it is mostly hills—so it’s a nice change. Additionally, there is nothing better than running by the water and taking in the scenery of downtown Portland.
6. What’s your most memorable running experience (or experiences)? Boston 2013. The weather that day was ideal— cool to start but sunny (high in the 50s). My “A” goal was to break 3 hours. I had a fantastic race through Mile 24 and came up just short: 3:00.54—though my watch had logged 26.4 miles. I ran most of it with my best friend and training partner, but he slowed on the Newton hills so I pulled away from him around mile 19. Arguably my BEST RACE EVER.
After the race, I met up with him and we retrieved our belongings from the buses—he ran 3:04 that day. We changed clothes and warmed up in the medical tent. We made our way back to the Starbucks on Boylston Street where we planned to meet up with friends who started behind us.
As you may be aware, the second bomb that day went off right outside the Starbucks. I was in the middle of the shop when it went off. The building shook like nothing I have ever experienced and the windows shattered. My friend helped people from outside come in and then we all quickly evacuated the building and headed away from Boylston Street.
What turned out to be the BEST running day of my life changed very quickly as we gathered everyone in our group and got out of downtown Boston as soon as we could. I still have occasional nightmares and vague memories of the chaos and injured persons we encountered that day.
7. What’s the best running advice you’ve ever received? Rick always tells me to “Have Fun”—which is always true when it’s over. 🙂 I try to remember that fun is why I do this. I do miss how social running can be and always enjoy hanging out with everyone before and after races. THAT is FUN!
8. Tell us one fun fact, hidden talent, or something we don’t know about you, but should? I have taught leadership and/or worked with student leaders for almost 25 years of my teaching career. It’s kind of my thing… My approach is that everyone learns best through “doing” and I have a way of empowering students. Maybe you have seen this in me? 😂