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

Hi friends! First of all I want to thank @Kristine Owen Wood and @Erin Phifer for holding down the community for the last few weeks - we're lucky to have you!! I have been dealing with a ton of crazy in my personal life and haven't been posting here as much as I'd love - BUT I'm happy to share that we're back and better than ever! We're going to be putting in a big push to continue to support you all and continue building the community. I've got a little Skool revamp coming very soon, but want to get your input first here before we announce it to new members! Would you rather have: 1) For Q&As: - Monthly "Ask a coach" calls - whether it's 2 of us or 50 of us, having a "ask a coach" session on the calendar once a month where we can all enter a no judgement Q&A zone on all things first marathon! It would also be great to connect with more of you face to face as well :) OR - A thread for "Ask a Marathoner" where you can drop your questions there, and we'll answer them for you separate from the main group discussion thread Are you interested in: 2) Marathon "Buddy" - pairing you with an experienced marathoner who is willing to be apart of the mentorship program who is your go-to for all things marathon support? Would love your feedback below! 👇

Welcome to the Buddy Community friends!! We're SO happy you're here! Tell us a little about yourselves and your running journey's in the comments :) @Kellyn Chapman @Alison Jones @Cami Zubieta @Yusra Iftikhar @Whitney Alexander @Elizabeth Pulgarin @Aimee Jones @Maritza Soto @Holly R @Taylor Ramos @Valentina Irazabal @Alexa Bronfman @Jason Heath @Jess Schoenfeld @Cassandra Robinson

I joined the marathon club!! Thankful for this group for answering last minute questions and the new people I’ve met along the way! Phone- I used rally, runna and music (only for a few miles, I was listening to everybody around me and taking in the sights and sounds of Eugene, especially along the river) I had downloaded. I turned my brightness all the way down and my phone was on 70% when I finished! Mascara- I didn’t have time to go by Sephora so I grabbed Maybeline lash sensational- waterproof and it stayed on! Hair- I did a slick back with bubble braids because I hate when my hair wraps around my neck and stayed the whole time and no tangles! Unfortunately I have alopecia and used boldify hair line powder to cover a bald spot and it stayed 80%! Things that went right! I finished! Notes- I went out slower than I needed to but only sped up a little. When I was done I felt like I still had more in the tank which was disappointing because even though I said I wanted to finish under 5, I had a silent goal. I didn’t want to push myself and not finish so now I know I could go a little harder. Since I didn’t push too hard I never hit a wall. I was expecting that mile 20 wall, never happened! At mile 25 I was like alright, I’m ready to finish though. Only walking breaks were through water stations. I ate a rice cake, honey and banana before the race. Had a cup of coffee on the shuttle to the race. Ate a gel in the corral. And I was trying to eat a gel every 30 min but I had extra gels at the end so I guess I skipped some times I was supposed to gel. But I did take one around 23 even though I was thinking I’m almost done, why gel? I ate 2 salt sticks, could have had more but I’m used to training in hotter more humid conditions so I felt like it was a little unnecessary. I took small sips of water at every water station except one. Mile 16 water station I took a goodys powder and asked a college boy to open it for me because my fingers didn’t have enough dexterity!

A HUGE congrats to @Aimee Jones for officially being a marathoner!!! 🎉 We can’t wait to hear all about your experience running Eugene this weekend! For now, soak in the post-marathon glory. 😊 ❤️