I was 16 when I did my first half marathon, 19 when I ran my first full. My mom was next to me, motivating me to at times literally get up and finish. 15 years later she's finished 20+ marathons and New York will be my 12th. We haven't ran them all together, but we've been each other's coach, cheerleader, and competitor for all of them. This one feels different though. The last full marathon we were supposed to run together was in Durham, NC in March of 2020 on a family vacation. COVID cancelled that race. Since then I've become a dad (and her an Oma, three times over). This feels like both a return to something we love, but also a step forward into something bigger. I'm running this race with a new purpose. My daughter is half Thai and it's important to me and my partner that we do what we can to raise her to be proud of her ethnicity. Part of that is working to ensure that she sees herself represented in as many places as possible. She shouldn't grow up feeling limited at all, and critical to that is the work AAJA does advancing diversity in newsrooms and ensuring fair and accurate coverage of communities of color. I'm proud and excited to have the privilege of running as part of Team AAJA in the 2025 New York City Marathon. Thank you for supporting Team AAJA!