in june 2018 when my dad was being discharged from the hospital, the nurses told my family that less than 5% of those who have a sudden cardiac arrest survive. performing CPR and applying a defibrillator (AED) can double or triple that rate, if done almost immediately. seconds matter, minutes have extreme consequences. we had an angel with us that day. as we were thanking the incredible staff, they asked for one thing, and that was to keep telling this story. if it could resonate and potentially change someone else’s circumstance, maybe one day a family walking out with a loved one won’t be so rare. weeks later, I sent an email to the American Heart Association looking for a bib for the NYC marathon in hopes to use their platform to tell my story. hours later, someone had dropped out from their team with an injury and I was in. the support from friends and family leading up to the race and during it was staggering. i ran a boston qualifying time that day and this journey began. a few years, several marathons and thousands of miles later, in spring 2021, I ran 50 miles around Manhattan to raise awareness for heart disease. thanks to a few local news channels, that run saw a lot more eyes than I could have done alone and the funds raised meant a lot with the absence of a marathon that year. now, almost exactly five years since i sent that email, i am truly honored that I have been nominated to be one of the Inaugural Leaders of Impact for the American Heart Association. when I saw the note from the Chair of the AHA that i was being nominated, i immediately thought about the nurses, the hospital, my family, all the miles, all the years. my second thought, was to put the chicago marathon on hold and to bring it back to NYC where it all began. i’m excited to share more about the Leaders of Impact Campaign and cannot wait to rip it through the streets of New York again on November 6th. thank you to everyone that’s shown support over the years. together we’ve been able to make a difference. 🖤🖤🖤 tb