I didn’t always know I was a runner, or that I need to run like I need to breathe.

I was a nonathletic, shy kid who read and concentrated on academics. I never paid much attention to sports and growing up in the 1970’s, girls weren’t encouraged to go out for the track team or play ball. The only sport I did – with my family – was skiing. My dad was from Europe and skied on iconic mountains in Austria. He took us to Vermont and my brother and I learned to ski there. It wasn’t until college at George Washington University, when my roommate, an enviably lanky, athletic girl suggested I join her for a run, that I first got a taste of it. We lived close by the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and I was soon running along the monuments in my spare time from studying, exploring our nation’s capital on foot. When I graduated, I returned to my northeast New Jersey home, got a job in New York City and ran for exercise and as a stress-reliever from my hectic New York/New Jersey commuting lifestyle. In New York, companies participated in corporate challenge events and I ran several 5Ks in the city. But otherwise, I didn’t seek out competitive running activities. Running for me then was still a way to stay in shape in between ski seasons. I was more serious about skiing than I was about running.