I have never been a real girly girl. As a kid I was always dirty and a mean fighter. I was always outside and playing in the dirt. I loved camping and fishing and mountains. My brother called me Ted. Seriously. For years.
When I was really little I remember watching Conan The Barbarian with my dad. I thought Conan was awesome (still do) and I wanted to be a barbarian.

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The title of Barbarian became some thing I worked towards. I could earn the title in strange ways… picking nightcrawlers for fishing, eating green olives (I secretly hated them).
When Gladiator came on I desperately wanted to be a gladiator. For several years when some one asked me what I was going to be when I grew up I would proudlly answer that I was going to be a gladiator. I never really understood why people thought it was so funny.

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I’ve been running for about eight years. I did a couple 5ks and 1/2 marathons. When ever I started really considering a marathon something came up (appendectomy, pregnancy). After my third child, the pregnancy that I gained the most weight, I made it a goal to run my first marathon before I turned 30. I ran my first marathon in June of 2010. It was a very humbling experience. It made me really sad that I wasn’t as tough as I thought I was.

I’ve been reading about ultrarunning for years. I’ve even had conversations about how crazy it is, but in the back of my mind I knew eventually I wanted to do it. Try it on- see how it fit.
During my first trail race of considerable distance the Laurel Highlands ultra 50k I felt at home. I felt like I had finally reached the destination that I’d been searching for.

Although at the time Laurel Highlands 50k was the furthest distance I had ever run it was also the most enjoyable. It was beautiful and peaceful and difficult and eye opening. I knew at the end of that race that I wanted to– had to go farther.