“What can I say? It worked!!” 23 minute PR

Congrats to our client Joung Song on running an impressive PR at the Chicago Marathon! She writes,

“I am so happy to report my 11th marathon in Chicago with the time of 4:19:44 which is a 23 minute PR and more than one hour and 16 minutes faster than my first marathon in 2015 (5 hours 35 minutes)!

I am 57 and my goal was to break 4 hours and 30 minutes without any injury.

I worked with MTA Coach Erin S. and what can I say, it worked!!

From zero running to running marathons

My running journey started in 2011 with my baby sister who was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 40. I vividly remember my first walk of 1.5 miles, not even jogging, which made me get sick for the next three days.

I was never athletic, never played any sports during school days but still I was so disappointed in myself. Well, I decided to keep going. One mile after one mile, one day after the other, I was able to increase the distance and speed little by little.

My sister passed away in the April of 2015. I continued with my very slow running. In that same year in the fall, October 2015, I ran my first marathon in Chicago.

It was by far hardest thing emotionally, to say bye to my sister, hardest thing physically to run the marathon. Thru this experience, I learned that running was my place of meditation, my therapy, my quiet time and my place of healing.

I lost my mom in October of 2023 and my dad in May of this year. Running was the best remedy to keep me going through these very hard times of my life.

Finding MTA

I found MTA podcast in 2019 during my New York marathon, listening to Angie during the expo.

I immediately joined MTA for life, haha, and listened to every single episode up to date.

Thank you so much for all the things you do for this awesome running community.”

-Joung Song