“If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.” – Fred DeVito
After corresponding and finally getting to meet her, the above quote made me think of her. Matt’s better half joined Runnin’ Not Walken this past year and she was a great addition to the team and I believe, qualifies as a Run-Gooder, especially when you hear her story. So here it is….in her own words:
“All my adult life I have been struggling to live a healthy lifestyle with a family of 5 on the go. Running was never in the picture. I was an elliptical gal and wanted nothing to do with running outside. Once my husband started running, I decided, “what the heck, I will give it a try!!!” I have been running for 4 years now. First, I started with only 5k’s and then quickly grew to half marathons. With my 40th birthday approaching I have a goal to run a full marathon. My favorite person to run with is my husband, Matt. He always knows when I need an extra push. He is my personal cheerleader! Most of the time he is far ahead of me, but I can always count on him at the finish line screaming at me to push through to finish strong. What I most enjoy about running is the accomplishments that I have personally done. I never in a million years thought that I could run for 3 hours without stopping. That is a huge sense of pride. While running I love the clear thinking that comes along with it and I feel like I can accomplish anything.”
Talking with Matt, I knew that Amanda would be nervous. We basically split up the team between men and women and Matt is a big personality and knew me from years ago but Amanda didn’t know anyone in the ladies’ van. She also had never run a Ragnar and the concept had her pretty nervous. I even slotted her into an assignment that included the Ragnar Leg which is the hardest, most badass run of the race. It was 9.1 miles that included a pretty good ascent up a hill for the first 2 ½ miles. We joked that when we met her at the top of the hill that she’d not be happy with me. She was actually smiling and cruising as you can tell here:
The rest of the race, she rocked it. Jenn, featured on our blog earlier, talks repeatedly about how Amanda was just a beast out there, never slowing down, was just such a strong runner, and that it was just fun to watch her go. Also, between Amanda and Matt, they’ve now basically recruited a few of us to join them at the 500 Festival Indy Mini in May so it’ll be great to be seeing them more in ’19.
I’ve heard since the race how she can’t wait for the next one because she had that much fun. To go from not running to casually running 5k’s and now half marathons with a full marathon as a 40th Birthday goal, that’s pretty awesome, especially considering it all has to get fit between all of the activities of life with a family of 5. It’s not an understatement to say moms rock. It was a pleasure getting to meet her and get to know her a bit and I’m excited that she’ll be back with the team this year.
Runners Doing Good 