Michelle Runs With It

This event was not about me at all. It was about helping my amazing friend Dylan accomplish what he has been training for months, for over a year for. The experience was so memorable; however, I had to get it out. I've paced a couple friends at their attempts of 100-milers at Devil Dog in 2022 and 2023. Unfortunately, neither of them finished and I took it to heart, I really did. The cutoff at DD is strict, and the weather is cold. I've never seen that course in daylight, and I don't ever want to. That is not the race I want to die on. The C&O 100 has been on my radar because it's the closest 100-miler to home. Before it was even a WSER qualifier, I had considered it but it's also the flattest and I like climbing, which is why I haven't hit the Register Now button. However, after running the last 30 miles of it, I am reconsidering. Driving to Knoxville, MD from home at 9pm on a Saturday night seemed odd. I was up all day and tried to take it easy. I walked i...

 S alisbury Marathon 04.04.26 “A marathon is a marathon no matter the pace.” Seeing Mike Wardian warming up at the start and chatting with Bart Yasso at the finish line was pretty cool (or “tough” as the kids say). What was really cool, was hearing the stories of the everyday runner. As a pacer, you get to hear so many. My job as a pacer was to keep steady throughout the entire 5 hours, be upbeat and positive, distract, encourage, and when the sun rose temps to 83° to remind runners to hydrate, fuel and listen to their bodies. I met some absolutely incredible runners, and with a 5-hour goal time, many were first time marathoners while others were experienced and knew the name of the heat game. Either way, I loved hearing their stories - how some were running for the first time with their partner, family trivia, best races and race day fails, the guy who ran an extra 6-7 (haha) miles just to get his wife to the half of her first marathon, the group of 20 from Richmond who would ALL ...