We continue our celebration of the women of our sport who are leading, inspiring, and making us all stronger this week with an interview with Bakline Ambassador Dani Filipek, who has experienced every facet of the sport from the middle school track team, to life as a professional runner. She currently coaches athletes at all levels for Luke Humphrey Running.
Congratulations—you’ve made it! Just qualifying for the Boston Marathon is worth celebrating. Oftentimes, as marathoners who enjoy type-A fun activities (like marathons), we lose sight of how epic it is to even be at the start line and have the privilege to compete amongst the world’s best. Throw in the most unpredictable weather each year, and you’ve got yourself one of the most celebrated days in the running universe. Be prepared for the course and know what to expect!
Bakline's Official 2019 NYC Half Marathon course strategy post. For newbies, the headline is:some early hills and sharp turns, a generally flat middle, and a steady uphill final 5K. For those who ran last year, the headline is:more Brooklyn at the start, less Central Park at the end, a hairpin turn, and a basically unchanged middle stretch. Read the full post for elevation analysis and advice on how to tackle the course.
After my first day of medical school in the fall of 2015, I made my way to what would soon become my second home for the next couple of years—a study space we called the Blue Room. It was ratty and rundown, with a row of desks and cubicles under dim lighting and in near-constant dead silence. At the end of my usual row of cubicles, the wall featured a poster of Steve Prefontaine racing at Hayward Field, emblazoned with one of his famous quotes: "I'm going to work so that it's a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it."
