Sam ran the 2017 NYC Half Marathon to support CSF and here is her story:
Was this your first half-marathon?
Considering that I graduated college and moved to NYC with a PR of 2 miles (mandated by field hockey testing in high school, not personal motivation!), this was most definitely my first half marathon!
Who or what has inspired you to run the United Airlines NYC Half? If you’ve overcome a challenge or are raising awareness for an organization or cause, please include details.
I fully credit Children’s Scholarship Fund for inspiring me to run the NYC Half. From a young age, my parents instilled in me the fundamental value of a sound education, a gift that not all children are fortunate enough to have. I am a firm believer that a solid education is the essential building block for our youth’s success, imperative to setting children on the successful path they so deserve. So, when CSF informed the Young Leaders group of our spots in the race, I immediately jumped at the opportunity. Helping to raise money for a truly meaningful cause that makes a lasting impact on the instrumental elementary years of our youth while concurrently partaking in an inspiring and humbling NYC-wide event was an opportunity I could not pass up.
What makes your story different from any other?
Throughout college, my idea of “running” was the mad-dash to make it to Late Night for 4-and-4 (4 chicken tenders and 4 mozzarella sticks, and maybe some bonus mac-and-cheese bites if you were lucky) before it closed. Long distance running seriously never crossed my mind. I played on the women’s ice hockey team at Dartmouth, so our cardio consisted of on-ice sprints (“Herbies”), skating drills, and our dreaded fall run test of fifteen 150-yard shuttles in 50-yard increments, each under 30 seconds (read: not fun). While my lifetime of hockey honed my fast-twitch muscle fibers, my slow-twitch muscles that would enable long-endurance feats received absolutely no love. When I graduated from college and effectively became a non-athlete, I realized that in order to counterbalance my insatiable love of Oreos and Ben & Jerry’s, I needed to not hate running. As soon as I signed up for the NYC Half with CSF, I was finally able to find the motivation to push myself and train for longer distances. And at some point during the race, the ex-athlete adrenaline kicked in, and I was able to beat my goal time of 1:40:00 and average 7:33 for the 13.1!