All Things Gwen

Years ago, my cousin Peter ran his first marathon. I thought he was insane. Then he did a few more …

I’ll never forget the first time he encouraged me to run. I was intimidated next to such an experienced athlete! (He’s a breakdancer, played rugby, did jiu-jitsu, everything.) But that was the first time I really ran – other than 15 minutes here and there in college. He was living in La Jolla, CA at the time, I think it was 2004. Anyway, picture this …

It’s before 9 am on a beautiful California morning. It felt like a cool summer day, although it was April. On the boardwalk, there were hooded sweatshirts with “Lifeguard” on them. Flimsy cover-ups. Boogie boards. It was like the Jersey shore – only way better. The air was different …

I didn’t know what to expect, but Peter was a great coach. He said – let’s run for five minutes then walk. You can do it! So he led, and I followed … I did it … and I was never the same!*

A month later, I signed up for my first 5K race!

Here I am at my first 5K. I begged Dan to come with me - and I finished in 31 minutes!

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