Ashley Snyder I have always been into exercise, and was a casual jogger for many years. But, it wasn’t until a friend of mine that was a personal trainer up in Manhattan , KS talked me into entering a 2 mile fun run that I became interested in running. After that first race I was hooked, and since then I have participated in numerous 5ks, 15s, two half marathons, a very cold 25k, and two marathons. My favorite race was the San Francisco Marathon 2009. I ran the race with five other members of my family, and it was one of greatest days of my life! Once I stated participating in races, I started to encourage my family members to start running also. So slowly but surely (I can be a bit relentless) they started running. Now I have an aunt and uncle here in Tulsa that run with me frequently (and win their age groups frequently!), a sister in California who is hooked on half marathons, a cousin in Arizona who has flown in several times to run races here in OK, and my brother-in-law out in California just announced he is signing up for a 10 mile race in the spring! I enjoy running and I am always trying to encourage people I meet to start running. I have not only encouraged all my family members to start running, but I also persuaded a co-worker to run his first half marathon at Route 66 this year. So being a run leader seemed like a natural fit for me! I am forever in debt to RunnersWorld Tulsa for helping me through my first marathon, so it was time to repay the favor. Being a run leader is so rewarding and I enjoy encouraging people to reach their goals. One of the neatest days of my life was seeing the runners that were in my group last session reach the finish line at Route 66. I am a co-leader of the team Happy Pace with Kelly Pound. I think that name really fits us and our mentality on training! We both enjoy running and the social interaction with others. So we are just trying to find our ‘happy pace’ and meet some great friends along the way. I met Kelly (along with many other great friends) through RunnersWorld, and we are like two peas in a pod. So I am lucky enough that for me training has always been fun, almost like a healthier happy hour! We are both excited about our new group this session. Kelly and I have developed a blog, and a google group to keep our group connected this session. We are hoping to develop a great sense of camaraderie between all of our members and to keep everyone connected. Who knows we may have our own personal chant to get us started in the mornings! Last but not least, a little about me! I am thirty years old, and have been happily married for three years. My husband is very supportive of my running, and has traveled out to California with me to run a race. So I always tell him he should have gotten a medal also! He has been with me for most of my races, and is always at the finish line to tell me he is proud of me. I am the middle child sandwiched in between an older brother and younger sister. My parents live in Sapulpa , and have been to many races! They also traveled out to California to see my sister and me in the San Francisco Marathon. They are not runners themselves, and are a little lost on how their family suddenly developed a taste for running, but are totally supportive. So all in all I am very blessed to have a great family!
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