Happy Wednesday y'all! I am super excited to announce that our June athlete spotlight is the incredible @Kristine Owen Wood! Kristine is always one of the first to cheer others on and I think I speak for all of us when I say the Friday polls are always amazing and make me really think about myself as a runner (and a person lol). Thank you for being an important part of this community, Kristine! And be sure to check out her full interview: https://www.myfirstmarathon.co/post/first-marathon-buddy-program-athlete-spotlight-meet-kristine-owen-wood

What’s your training tip of the day?! Mine is to freeze 1/2 your water before a hot run so it slowly melts as you go! Don’t sleep on freezing your gels either!!

Shout out to @Emily Bailey for the idea and for collecting a list of everyone's upcoming marathons! You'll now find any upcoming milestones on the calendar, if I'm missing any please feel free to comment and I will add them :). You'll also see the name of the community member running the race in the invite so you know who to cheer on! I plan to add to add tracking and bib numbers for those who are comfortable sharing as we get closer! Upcoming races are: ⦁ @Caitlin Palmieri Jackson - NYC Marathon 2026 - November 1, 2026 ⦁ @Audra Hahle - Phoenix Marathon - December 12, 2026 ⦁ @Shawna Delellis - Philadelphia Marathon - November 22, 2026 ⦁ @Annika Olson - Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon - Oct 4, 2026 ⦁ @Dom OBrien - TCS Sydney Marathon - August 30, 2026 ⦁ @Cristina Boose - Every Woman's Marathon 2027 - February 28, 2027 ⦁ @Alison Jones - Boulderthon Marathon - September 27, 2026

I was going for an even better pace record (because you know how us runners are lol). But I am super happy with what I accomplished today. I beat my last half marathon by 13 minutes! I will take it! I felt awesome and put the work in so my finish was just perfect for me. Now onto Bigger goals, FULL MARATHON IN DECEMBER! 😱 Thank you to this group for so many amazing suggestions.

You’re in the middle of a long run and nature calls 😰 What’s your move? (Remember, we’ve ALL been here 🥲)