Mary Denholm - Loving the Journey: From BQ to OTQ in Four Years! | RunChats Ep.69

What an amazing, inspiring journey Mary Denholm has been on! From aiming for a BQ in her 2nd marathon and nailing a 3:03 in 2016, to running a 2:42 at CIM in 2019, punching her ticket to run the Trials in Atlanta. Mary's time seeded her 189th for ATL, where she rocked a personal-record time of 2 hours, 41 minutes, 8 seconds on a demanding course in swirling winds, finishing 51st! That outstanding result on a tough day against a stacked field earned her a start in the PRO field this year in Boston. Her progress and journey haven't been linear and all of those races and life experiences have forged her mental grit and resiliency. Mary had a tough day at Grandma's, nearly dropped out, and decided to help a bunch of other women go sub-3 that day. At Twin Cities, Mary ran with her friend Liz Camy for 25M, but couldn't stay with her the last mile. Liz qualified and Mary missed her OTQ by 13 seconds! By far the most impactful, in February, just a month before her big Trials race in Atlanta, she was asked to move out of her marital home, ending her 10-year marriage. She loaded up her truck and dog, Max, and moved to Flagstaff, bouncing around, crashing on friends couches and airbnbs, getting very little sleep due to the stress. Not running for a week and missing a last key long run workout piled on even more anxiety. She opened up to her coach, Nick Klastava—who reassured her that the fitness was there—and to some of her close training partners, who gave her support, and made her feel loved at a time she needed it most. Mary is a beacon of positivity and a great ambassador for our sport. She dreams big, shares her goals, and inspires and encourages others to believe in themselves and get to work! She has a great partnership with her coach and is also coaching and helping athletes hit their goals for Lift Run Perform. I'm stoked to see Mary get after it in the pro field at Boston and take aim at the new trials standard of <2:37! I hope you all enjoy this convo as much as we did! If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on. Connect With Mary: Instagram: @eatrunandbemary Coaching & Other Links: https://linktr.ee/marydenholm Connect With Ron: Personal Instagram: @ronrunsnyc Podcast Instagram: @runchats_with_ronrunsnyc Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com ---- Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com Email: [email protected] Social: @_margittai © 2022 Ron Romano