Michelle Derenski began her running career at 32 years old, she began on a whim to help her lose a bit of stubborn pregnancy weight. She figured where better to start than with the 5K as this was the first competitive sport she had participated in. After her first 5K she aimed higher next towards the marathon distance, soon after she attended her first in Memphis at the Saint Jude’s Marathon running 3:48, instantly, attending Boston became her next obsession. By day Michelle is a wife and mother employed as a radiologic technologist; while exercise has always been part of her life, she finds inspiration from working out and externally from interviews and podcasts alike. After a bit more experience and training she qualified for Boston, but alas, that was the COVID year, nonetheless she ran Boston virtually on her own. Motivation did not fade one bit!
Undeterred by setbacks that have happened in her running career such as COVID and a plague of injuries she has found much success and learned balance between intensity and recovery. She credits her coach, Gina Rouse, an ongoing mentor and voice of reason to encourage her to take some steps back in order to get better and move forward. As her fitness has progressed so have her times as she has now cracked the 3:20 barrier, and as always is inspired to find the next barrier to break, it may be 3:10, it may be 3:05!
Running keeps Michelle grounded, it is something you she finds she can do anywhere in the world, all she needs is a pair of running shoes. “Running has introduced me to a community of wonderful, like-minded people. It’s given me more confidence in every area of my life. I know if I have a good plan and I put in the work, I can achieve almost anything!”
The next BIG thing for Michelle is attending Boston 2024, this will be her fourth consecutive Boston Qualifying year.
