Maraton races every Saturday morning

I ran my first marathon in 1996 when I was 15. I’ve run 10 total, all over the U.S., but my top two are the Marine Corps Marathon in DC and the TCS New York City Marathon. I’m thrilled to be running them back to back, just seven days apart. It will be my third time running through the streets of New York; I ran the 2011 New York City Marathon, and I ran the NYC Half in March. There’s nothing like running in New York—the energy, the spectators, the whole atmosphere. Brooklyn is my favorite part of the marathon; the brownstones and the crowds are amazing, especially when runners come off the Verrazano Bridge. I live in Southern California, where I’m a general manager at a Sports Chalet sporting goods store. When I came to New York to race in 2011, I was a little nervous. Once I crossed the finish line, I couldn’t believe how well organized it all was. I couldn’t even tell that there were almost 50,000 people running the race. The part of the race that I’m looking forward to the most is seeing my niece, Journey, at the finish line. She’s a senior in high school in California, and her dad’s not in the picture, so I’ve helped my sister raise her. This will be her first time in New York, so she’s probably just as excited as I am, if not more excited.

I am so excited to run my first marathon with my breast cancer−survivor mother, who is also running her first. She ran many NYRR Mini 10K races during the 1980s, and I used to play with her medals when I was a little girl. I began running in college when I studied abroad in Italy—I loved running outdoors. I did my first half-marathon in 2012 and was inspired by other runners who were training for a marathon. I had always thought that a marathon was out of my league, but these people seemed so normal! So I set a goal to run the marathon when I turned 26—a year for each mile of the marathon—and I did it in May.

I work as the chief medical officer of the CEDIMAT hospital in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. As a critical care physician, I routinely tell my patients to exercise, and yet for a long time, I did not. Last year, I decided to start running again. Once I got the news that I’d been accepted into the TCS New York City Marathon, I set a plan and got a trainer. I used to play soccer for the national team, so my memory cells reactivated when I began to run. I did 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) in September in 4:15—a horrible time. More recently, I did 21 kilometers (13 miles) in 2:38—it’s amazing what can happen. It took me six months to get in marathon shape. My stamina is much better now. I look forward to going to sleep early because I enjoy meeting my running mates in the morning. I never knew running was such a community-driven sport. Interestingly, none of my training mates speak to me about medicine. Running this race is like a grand finale, though I hope to repeat it. My father, a physician, did all of his medical training in NYC, and I received my specialty training at Mount Sinai. I used to live in the city full-time, and I’ve worked there part-time since 1999. I consider the city my second home.