Where do I begin?

My journey began back in 2009. At really low point in my life, when I felt like everything was falling apart and weighing in at 215 pounds, I decided to put on an old pair of running shoes and run. I ran as long as I could that day. I kept running, and running, and running. When I got home after the run, I realized I had ran over 10k. I thought I might be pretty good at this running thing. In December of 2009, I registered for the 2010 Ottawa Marathon. Yes, what was I thinking? I had never run a race in my life, not even a 5k. Why not run a Marathon? Well...I survived...finishing with a time of 4:44:38. The next day I said I would never run again. That turned out to be a lie. I started back running again and registered for the 2011 Toronto Marathon. I ended up finishing that marathon in 4:27:42. Still not a great time, but that didn't stop me. I'm now 50 pounds lighter and in the  spring of 2016 I ran the Cleveland Marathon in 3:19:34. I am currently running my marathons in under 3:10:00. Training has not been easy. Juggling a career as a teacher/performer, and a family requires extreme discipline. I train approx 12 hours a week (3 hours of swimming, 2-4 hours of spinning/cycling and 6 hours of running). It's a very fine balance, and I am ever so grateful that I have a supportive family that believes in me. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!

In 2012, I started training seriously as competitive runner with a running coach and running club. I have had the honor of running alongside and training with some of the best athletes out there. With only 6 years of competitive running under my belt, I'm proud to say that I have now completed over 20 marathons, 20 half marathons, a 150k Grand Fondo bike race, numerous 5k and 10k races, a 237 mile relay race (4 times), a yearly 3k open swim race, 3 Ironman 70.3 distance triathlons, and two 55k ultra marathon distance Movember Challenges.

In October 2017, I ran the P'tit train du nord Marathon in St-Jerome Quebec in 3:15:26 and I qualified for the Boston Marathon 2019. Since then, I ran the Cornwall Run to End MS Marathon in 3:10:20 and I qualified for Boston 2019 again. This marathon was also an hour and thirty five minutes faster than my first marathon in 2010. In October 2018, I ran the Niagara Falls International Marathon with a finish time of 3:09:24. This is my fastest marathon to date. I placed 2nd in my age category and placed 18th out of 740 runners. It also qualified me to run the Boston Marathon in 2020. In April 2019, I ran my first Boston Marathon. I've now run the Boston Marathon 4 times, and I'm excited to take a break from Boston for a bit. I recently ran the Cornwall half marathon in April 2022, which qualified me for the New York City Marathon in 2023.

I've raced in Ottawa, Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Mont-Tremblant, Toronto, Hamilton, Cornwall, Sudbury, Syracuse, Vermont, Philadelphia, Albany, Maine, Cleveland, Cambridge, New York and Boston, just to name a few places.

In 2016, I decided to embark on the triathlon route as well as competitive running. In August of 2016, with no swimming or cycling experience, I competed in my first Olympic Triathlon in Cornwall, ON. In June 2017, I completed my first Ironman 70.3 in Mont-Tremblant, PQ. It was such a humbling experience. I was never a swimmer or cyclist. Running was hard enough work. It wasn't until September, 2017 that I started training in swimming and cycling with a coach. I completed my 2nd Ironman 70.3 in Syracuse in June 2018 and  my 3rd Ironman 70.3 in Maine in August 2019. I'm super excited to say that I just completed my first full Ironman in Maryland in September 2022.

I currently train in Barrhaven with K2J Fitness and Nepean Masters Swimming.