—Kate Silver, writer
8. I achieved a goal I never thought possible.
“I was a high jumper and a sprinter in college. But to me, ‘runners’ were the 10K or cross-country people, the ones who were out there putting in the mileage.
After college, I started casually jogging, then racing, and in 2013, I even started doing triathlons. Still, I didn’t really think of myself as a runner until 2015, when I ran the Dallas Marathon. I’d already done two marathons and even won one before then, but that was the first time I traveled for a race.
I was invited to the race by the National Black Marathoners Association, and they had a banquet there. I met Marilyn Bevans, who was the first Black woman to break the three-hour mark in the marathon. I got a lot of advice from her, and I ended up running a personal best time and coming in fourth place. I shocked myself.
That day, that weekend in Dallas—being at the banquet around so many other people that look like me, then doing something I didn’t think I was capable of—I was like, ‘Oh wow, I guess I really am a runner.’ I made it a goal to break three hours in the marathon, and I did it in 2020, at the Tidewater Striders marathon in Virginia.
Last year, I became the first U.S. Black female professional triathlete. Now, I’m working with the Ironman Foundation and a new initiative called Race For Change, which aims to reduce barriers for Black athletes and other diverse groups. It’s kind of translated, really—from me being inspired by Marilyn Bevans to wanting to inspire others.”
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—Sika Henry, professional triathlete and ambassador for Race for Change
9. My friends started asking me for running advice.
“I started running at a young age, beginning at a sports day in fifth grade. I was on the track team for one semester in middle school. But I took a break and didn’t get back to running until after I graduated from college.
I was living in the Twin Cities at the time. The weekend of the Twin Cities Marathon they have a 10K. I did it every year for a few years. At the time I didn’t think I was a runner—I thought, I just run sometimes, for mental health and to connect with others, and I do this race for fun.
I noticed people looked so excited when they picked up their marathon bibs. So in 2018, I thought, Let me try this. I Googled ‘beginner marathon training’ and followed a plan. No one around me was training for a marathon. I was by myself and needed support, so I would post about my runs on social media.
My friends saw that, and watched me cross the finish line, and started asking me questions about running. Many of them look like me—they’re Asian women—and they want to know how to get into running. I would tell them, ‘I’m not a coach, but I can tell you my experiences and some mistakes I made, so you can avoid them.’ I even started a blog about running. That’s when I started to think, Oh, I guess I am a runner!
Source: SELF
