Katie Runs 26.2!

One of Women’s Running’s own,
Katie Wagner, ran her first marathon this weekend in
Jacksonville, FL. Since I began working with Katie, she has run several half
marathons. I remember after she finished her first half she said, “When can we
do another one?” She was immediately hooked. Naturally, after running a number
of half marathons, she challenged herself to participate in a full marathon.
The next step was picking which marathon to do.

Choosing which marathon to
participate in turned out to be an easy decision for Katie. Katie’s mother
recently battled breast cancer and can now call herself a survivor. Thus, Katie
registered for 26.2 with Donna – The National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer.
This was the perfect event for her as 26.2 with Donna’s mission is to
“passionately produce world class events to raise funds for ground breaking
breast cancer research and empower women living with breast cancer.” As you can
imagine, Katie wanted to run in honor of her mother and make her proud.

I was lucky enough to travel to
this event for Women’s Running and as part of my training for Boston, I met
Katie at mile 16 to run her in to the finish line. Immediately, I was touched
by all of the walkers who were survivors or were still in the fight of their
lives.  When I had a chance to
reflect on the event, I was also amazed at the support the city gave for this
race. Even when we ran the miles on the beach, the condos were decorated for
supporting the race and the cause. Congrats to all of you who did the run or
walk Sunday, Feb. 21. We at Women’s Running are proud of Katie and
all of you who took on the challenge and conquered the course to achieve your
goal.

Here are a few photos from the event:

(From left to right: Katie’s Mom, Donna, Katie)

(Katie during her first marathon)

Is there an event that has touched
your heart or remained in your mind? Was there a specific cause you were
running for or goal you were aiming to achieve?