My running story:

I came to running a bit later in life. I wasn’t terribly athletic growing up, but I swam and played basketball and soccer (not well) and was somewhat decent at tennis. Running for its own sake was never really on my radar, though. After I finished grad school, I was working a job I didn’t like, and I was struggling with feeling overwhelmed by all of the changes I wanted to make in my life. I somehow latched on to the idea of training for a 5K as a way to teach myself that I could do something small each day and it would eventually build itself into something bigger. So I began Couch to 5K, and after a couple of false starts, I finished my first 5K shortly after I turned 33. I kept at it, and now it’s a part of my daily life that I can’t imagine being without.

Favorite distance:

I have a love/hate relationship with the marathon. I’ve done seven so far, and each one was terrible and wonderful in its own way. They’re difficult and long and miserable in parts, but there’s nothing like that euphoric, exhausted feeling you get when you’ve crossed the finish line and it’s finally over.

Do you have any running/walking advice you'd like to offer?:

Be consistent! Find your reason for lacing up your shoes and getting your miles in, even when you’d rather not. I know that it’s difficult right now to stay motivated, but I’ve found it helpful to pick a training plan and stick to it, even if for now there’s no goal race at the end.

Why do you like running River City Races events?

I love showing up early on a Saturday morning and knowing that I’ll see a ton of familiar faces at the start line. This city’s got a great running community, and I miss all of you! My parents and sister are also frequent participants, and it’s great to do something active together as a family.

Anything else you'd like to share?

I’m a big trivia buff, and I was fortunate enough to appear on Jeopardy! In late February. One of my favorite moments from that experience was correctly answering a clue about the Boston Marathon. I haven’t run that one yet, but maybe someday!