Four years after beginning her journey to get in shape, losing 120 pounds and discovering her love of running, Gaylon Alcaraz is set to compete in her “dream race” – the Chicago Marathon.
“My journey has been fulfilling for me,” Alcaraz said. “To go from being non-active and overweight to really changing my life around, it feels very, very good.”
The journey to marathon runner status was not easy.
“Going out on a track and running from one light post to the next was some of the most difficult things I have ever done,” she said. “I was really out of shape.”
As she prepares to run her third full marathon, Alcaraz is inspiring others to follow in her footsteps.
“It is really about your journey and enjoying your journey,” she said. “We are doing this because we want to, not because we have to. Somebody, somewhere in the world is running for their life. So these are grateful runs, these are not struggle runs. When you get to that place in your head when you are feeling like you don’t want to go on, just say one more mile and that is what I have been doing.”
Alcaraz calls members of the Black Girls Run and Men Run Deez Streets groups her running family, and those supporters plan to help her reach her goal on race day this October. They will be stationed throughout the course for a little extra emotional support.
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“I feel like I’m going to cry,” she said. “I have been feeling emotional about it lately, period. Just thinking about where I have come from and where I am going. This is just an amazing, an amazing experience that I want to be there for.”
