Today I’m a sub-elite runner and a coach - but before that, I was a five-year-old in a pink and black fluffy dress with a matching hair bow, stepping onto a stage for my first dance recital. Movement has always been part of who I am.

I did not grow up running, and in fact, I never considered myself an athlete. I started running while I was majoring in dance in college as a way to stay in shape, but quickly fell in love with something deeper - the freedom it brought me. The way running let me explore new places, clear my head, and feel strong and powerful in my body.

In May of 2016, running became something more.

After a difficult breakup, I could barely get out of bed most days. My aunt (a school psychologist) challenged me to do one simple thing:
“Get up tomorrow and run one mile. No matter how hard it feels. Don’t come home until you finish it.”

Little did I know that a single mile would change everything.

One mile turned into a training program. And that training program turned into my first half marathon — the Rockaway Beach Half. After racing in 80-degree heat on an exposed boardwalk, I placed 5th female, beat my cousin who had been a standout high school runner, and won a pair of sneakers three sizes too big.

More importantly, I realized something: Maybe I’m good at this.

I set my sights on running the New York City Marathon the next year - and I was hooked.

Since then, I’ve:

- Become an Abbott World Marathon Majors 7 Star Finisher (New York, Chicago, Boston, London, Berlin, Tokyo + Sydney)

- Run 340 miles from LA to Las Vegas at The Speed Project

- Raced countless halves, 10Ks, and 5Ks

- Coached hundreds of athletes from the mile to the marathon

- Gone from a 3:32 marathon to 2:49, and from a 1:44 half to a 1:19

- Placed 10th American female at the Tokyo Marathon

- Become the first-ever female 7 Star Abbott World Major Marathon finisher

Today, I coach the Bandit Marathon Program and lead my private coaching practice, Rerouted Running.

But what matters most to me isn’t the times or the titles.

It’s that moment when someone realizes they’re capable of more than they thought.
That first brave mile.
That breakthrough race.
That quiet confidence that carries into the rest of their life.

Running changed my life - and my mission is to help it change yours, too. In whatever way is meaningful to you.