This race is such an amazing race! I ran it as a runner, grew and learned from it. I ran it as a pacer last year and I learned and grew so much more! Last year I wanted to pace because I know women are so much more capable than they believe. I became a runner because of someone believing in me. I wanted to help other women cross over from being uncertain to feeling like they can. I wanted to pay it forward. My mindset while applying last year was not totally about helping to pace. Part of me hoped to get a faster pace to help me stay accountable for my training, and rising to a challenge. I was given the 14:00 pacer spot. Not so much of the personal challenge I had secretly wanted, but I was thrilled to pace. It was during my training that changed my mindset. I was pretty badly injured after a freak falling off of the treadmill accident. 14:00 pacing became my new challenge, my new goal as I tried to recover as quickly as I could. Even up to race day, I had fear in my heart. I met some amazing people. Many many amazing women with such rich and complex stories about their lives and how they got to be running next to me. The fellow pacers felt like sisters I had not yet met until GGHM and we were suddenly bonded together on a mission. We all kept moving forward, and it hurt leaving some behind, but we had a job to do. We stayed to watch some of the people we bonded with during the race cross that finish line. This is truly a race full of positive growth for women. No matter where we are in life, or how we have gotten there, we are there together. I want to be there again. I want that 14:00 spot again. I want to see some of the women I met last year pass me and surge ahead and finish better than they had ever expected. I want to be what I am needed to be to help and encourage, and inspire. I am a runner because one person believed in me…
