One of the tenets of Another Mother Runner has always been to encourage women to pursue goals—and support them as they do. If a marathon is on your bucket list, we’re here to help you decide if the New Year is the right time for you to go 26.2. 

Because we believe in the power of looking into the “mirror” that is the AMR online community, we crowd-sourced responses on our Facebook page. Here are some of the answers to the question: How/when did you know you were ready to take on a marathon? 

Inspiration Stuck

“When the idea wouldn’t go away. I was terrified at the thought but had an ‘itch in my brain,’ and it kept whispering, ‘what if you can?’” —Sarah

“I was at the Boston Marathon finish line with a friend, waiting for her husband to finish. Hundreds of runners came by—all ages, sizes, paces—and I saw myself in them and realized I could do what they were doing!” —Melissa

Anna

“I  had just started in a new teaching position/school and as an icebreaker at the beginning of the year, we were asked to share something we hoped to accomplish that year outside of school. The words ‘run my first marathon’ flew out of my mouth before I could even think about it.” —Anna

“In 2012, I watched three friends run the Twin Cities Marathon. Based on finishing my first half marathon in 2:45 and seeing the TCM had a 6-hour time limit, I thought maybe I could run a marathon. Two weeks later, I received an issue of Women’s Running magazine with the headline: ‘If you can run a 10K today, you can run a marathon in 12 weeks.’ I took it as a sign, and registered for the 2013 Twin Cities Marathon.” —Stephanie

Life Demanded It

“I had just finished a half marathon the year my husband adopted my children. At the time, there was a Texas marathon called the Chosen for Adoption Marathon. I had to do the marathon! The last six miles, I could barely bend my knees: I had to pee badly yet I was scared to sit in a port-a-potty because I feared I would not be able to stand up afterward. At the finish line, I fell into my husband’s arms.” —Jennifer

Joelle

“I had two babies in two years and needed to escape the house for longer periods of time.” —Joelle

“I was going through a divorce, and I had never run more than three miles. But knew I had to prove I could do something big—something for myself and something that showed I was strong. It had to be a marathon.” —Judy

Megan

“After 20 years of running, I decided last year was it because: a) my three kids were in school all day and I could consistently train; b) I had been consistently running post partum for a few years and felt I had my ‘mojo’ back; c) in the past year, I had run a couple half marathons that went great and did not leave me feeling beat up; d) I had a very supportive group IRL and online (AMR ) who I knew I could lean on and train with.” —Megan

Body Felt up for the Challenge

“I knew I was ready for a marathon when my body felt strong at the half distance; when my summer was calm enough to fit in the ramped-up mileage of an AMR training program; and I had a few friends who also wanted to go the distance! Running the beautiful Twin Cities Marathon in 2017 was a fantastic life decision!” —Lorinda

Heather

“I did a half marathon with a friend at a slower pace than normal, and it was the first half that didn’t feel hard. That’s when I decided that maybe I could handle a marathon if I controlled my pace. I completed the Pittsburgh Marathon in May 2022.” —Heather

Heck, Yeah! 

“When I came to terms with the fact that interval run/walk was a totally okay way to complete a marathon. Once I removed that pressure that only ‘real runners’ run marathons, I was all in. I knew I could finish, and my time goals are only against myself.” —Jackie

“When I was truly tired of meeting everyone else’s needs and decided I was ready for something big just for me. It was such a strong need that I knew I would be able to put in the miles and time to complete a training program.” —Cathy

“I knew I was ready when I was in the middle of a 10-mile run listening to an episode of the Another Mother Runner podcast about ‘big for you’ goals, and I said to myself, ‘hey, I think I can run a marathon.’” —Amanda

Julie

“My best friend was turning 40, and she wanted to run the Chicago Marathon for it. How do you turn down a request like that?!? We signed up to fundraise for Ronald McDonald House, as well. Was I ready??? Maybe not, but no way was I going to disappoint the people I promised. It ended up being a life-changing experience: Nothing shows you that you’re capable of anything quite like marathon training does.” —Julie