WHY:

I am inspired by the voice of a 7 year old, stopped by her tears in the middle of a run, who told me she couldn’t run anymore. I asked her why. She said she was just too sad. Her dad was in jail – she was overcome with emotion about how to help him and was wondering if she would ever see him again. This tiny little girl, her big brown eyes dripping with tears on a hot day sweltering in her knock off Ugg boots to practice at Mini Mermaids broke my heart. I sat with her on the grass bewildered by what to say to her. What do I know about having a dad in jail? Nothing. I don’t know her pain. I do know loss and I do know helplessness. I asked her, “What would Mini Mermaid tell you to do?” She thought for a moment, “Mini Mermaid would tell me to keep running for my dad. She would tell me to study hard and to be smart so I could help my dad”. Leaving me speechless, I grabbed her hand and we ran.

These 105 miles are for her. They are for every coach that says “YES!” to giving up six weeks of her life after long hard days working/teaching/living life. They are for every girl that doesn’t know yet SHE HAS A VOICE. It took me a long time to find my voice, the one that came from me, from my bravery and not from my fear. The voice I found (and am still finding EVERY day) pushes me through life, it consoles me when this life gives me a beating and it softens when I need to know love not shame – this voice is mine. Every footfall, I hear that voice and it tells me “I AM OK, no matter what”.

As a triathlete who completed her first Ironman after being diagnosed with a rare blood disorder, I know personally what a woman can learn about herself through becoming fit even when you feel broken. I also know what it means to live without an internal voice to navigate life with. Longing for and searching for the truth sent me into a tailspin as a young adult wondering what my own voice really sounded like - knowing there had to be a way to find it yet not having the tools to do so.  I built Mini Mermaid Running Club (MMRC) so we teach every girl self-awareness, confidence, fitness and community, MMRC is a 6 week journey to self-discovery ending in a 5k.

I’ll never know what that Mini Mermaid who reached my heart that day is really going through, I’m not supposed to – that is her journey, I am on my own. I have the SAME responsibility as she does to live fully, to embrace the circumstances around me and see who I am in the midst of them. I will choose every day to be brave, to not stay small in my life. These 8 days of running are for all of our stories, the story that needs to be heard so we can inspire others. 105 miles will show me who I am, broken down, tired and on the edge of quitting, that’s when I show up – fully, bravely and with fierce determination. That is what I want to give every Mini Mermaid, the knowledge that no matter what, they are ENOUGH. They are enough to live out their dreams, to be loved, to love, to make an impact in their world and to live fully, every single step of the way.

As a small nonprofit having served over 4000 girls worldwide since 2010, we are inspired to tell the story of Mini Mermaid Running Club. In 105 miles, I will run 8 half marathons in cities throughout California ending at schools and running the last mile with girls enrolled in Mini Mermaids. From Ft. Bragg to El Nino Mexico, I hope to bring light to every girl and woman that longs to be HEARD and to know she has a voice.