Cheers to Karen! 
An interview with former Peace Coffee Employee Karen Townsend

What made you decide to run the Dublin, Ireland Marathon?
I had worked doing massage at the Twin Cities Marathon and I was very inspired by all the runners who ran. In the back of my head I thought I would like to do this, but it wasn’t until my friend Dy, who works for a local youth mentoring program, Bolder Options, asked me to run the Dublin Marathon to raise money for her work that I thought, “yes, I can run that!”

How long did you train for the marathon? 
5 months

What were you high points and low points of training?
The first time I ran 10 miles I felt like a super human. Later on in my training I started to worry about everything. There would be a few weeks where I didn’t run because I thought I was messing up my body but it was really me psyching myself out. In the end my body felt great. 

Where did you run the most during your training? 
The lakes. I like to run a loop around Harriet, Calhoun and Isles a few times a week.

Did you train with other people? 
Sometimes people would run part of the way with me. I actually did most of the training by myself because I would go at irregular times to fit it into my work schedule.

How did you feel at the start of the race? 
Nervous, and then really happy once we started to move. The first 11 miles I ran with my friend Dy, so we kept each other excited.

Did you ever hit the wall during the marathon? 
For the first 19 miles I felt great. But after that I hit some small walls. All of the sudden my legs realized that they hurt. And the mile markers started to play tricks on me. I would think I was farther than I actually was and when I saw the mile marker I would shake my head in disbelief.

How was the cheering in Dublin? 
The crowd would yell “Brilliant, Brilliant & Well done!” I had to laugh. It seemed so proper!

How many people ran in the marathon? 
11,000. Most people I met were running for some form of charity.

What was your finishing time? 
My chip time was 4 hours, 34 minutes and 12 seconds. My goal was to finish under five hours and while I was running I developed another goal which was to be smiling when I crossed the finish line. I looked at my finishing photo online and there I was with a huge smile across my face!

Will you do another marathon? 
Yes. I have a friend in NYC and she lives right on the marathon course. I’ve never been to NYC but I told my friend that if she trains to run there I will fly out and run to it with her. I would also like to do the Twin Cities marathon next year.

Have you run since you got back? 
Yes, but I took off a few weeks and I am slowly getting back into it.

How much money did you raise & what will Bolder Options do with the money you raised?
I raised 3800 and as a group of 22 runners we raised almost 80,000. All the money will go to support programs at Bolder Options. 

Do you think that this experience makes you want to be a mentor? 
Definitely. A lot of the other people who ran are mentors and it seems like a great program.

So we know you ran the marathon but what else have you been up to since you left Peace Coffee? 
I have a full time massage practice and I am also teaching massage at Center Point. I want to get my personal trainer certificate so I can help people who might otherwise hate the idea of exercise get involved in their body and have fun doing it. Lastly, I have fallen in love. This is wonderful! 

Too find out more about Bolder Options and how you can be a youth mentor visit their website at www.bolderoptions.com.

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