Name: Sarah Woerner

Age: 27

Occupation: Health and Physical Education teacher, cross-country and basketball coach

Years running: 15

Why do you run?

I run to challenge myself, for health, and to see beautiful parts of God’s creation.

Favorite places to run:

Biology trail in Collegedale, San Juan mountains in Colorado, anywhere new.

Favorite achievement:

Hmm. I have gone out west to Colorado the past 2 summers and basically lived out of my car while running in the mountains. It is an amazing experience, so I guess you could call that an achievement. I also won the 2015 U.S. Skyrunning Series which was pretty cool.

Toughest moment during a run/race:

In long races, there is always that ‘gut-check’ moment when you are going through a really tough patch and you have to make the decision of fighting through it or quitting. As far as a tough moment in a specific race, I had an epic blowup at the Georgia Death Race and blew a big lead in the last 20 miles going from 1st to 3rd place and losing a golden ticket to Western States. That was tough to fight through as my body basically rebelled on me near the end.

Goals for 2017:

Run injury free. Appreciate every day that God gives me the ability to run. Finish several goal races including the Georgia Death Race, Tushars 93k and Cruel Jewel 100.

2017 Race Schedule:

Rock/Creek River Gorge- March 25th
Georgia Death Race 68 mile- April 1st
Cruel Jewel 100-May 19th
Broken Arrow Skyrace 52k-June 16th
Tushars 93k-July 29th
Stump Jump 50k-October 7th
Chattanooga 100 mile-December 2nd

Tips for new runners:

Don’t be afraid to explore new places. Try to link up with a running group and go for group runs. Don’t focus so much on pace while on the trail, but pay attention to your effort level.