by Mykaela A. Jones
Kremmling’s own, Miranda Thomas, has returned from Illinois after running in her first Chicago Marathon.
Miranda has a background a gifted athlete as she ran and participated in other sports since she was in the fifth grade. Miranda had been an athlete who had trained under West Grand School District’s Track & Field and Cross Country coach and multiple Chicago Marathon runner, Ryan Tripicchio, and ran for West Grand the majority of her high school career. While she did her training all on her own she does credit Tripicchio for inspiring her to go to Chicago.
“Trip was a big part of me going (to the marathon) and he inspired me to go for it. While I was still a student-athlete I trained, and even after I was out of school and still wanting to do this he would keep in touch to make sure I was still training, staying hydrated and healthy, and taking care of myself.”
About her initial involvement with Tripicchio at the marathon itself Miranda said, “We met with one another the morning of the marathon and again in the afternoon, but we ran the race separately.”
“I always wanted to run a marathon,” She said, “I went to Chicago with (my partner) Alex Gardner’s family for some down time. I entered my name in the lottery that the marathon hosted while I was there and they picked me so that’s how I got involved.”
With Miranda now being sure that she was going, she now had to train. “I trained for the marathon for six months. I tried to bump up my mileage by two miles each week. The most I ran, aside from the marathon that is, in training was twenty two (22) miles.”
On the days leading up to the marathon, and the day of the marathon itself, Miranda said that the atmosphere in Chicago was perfect. “It was amazing, the weather was perfect, the event was super organized, and I definitely want to go back next year. I started in Grant Park and ended in Grant Park. That was special for me since my Dad’s name is Grant and I was running for him in his honor.”
Miranda expressed what the training process for her next Chicago marathon could look like. “My goal is to drop an hour off of my marathon time, so I would like to switch up my training methods for the next time. ” She said.
She finished the race with a time of four (4) hours and thirty (30) minutes.
