Run in My Shoes continues with Verna Volker, founder of Native Women Running, whose mission is to build a community of Native women runners and encourages them to find their place in the running world after being historically excluded. A short profile complements the AMR Friday Podcast, which features the profiled runner as a guest.
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A little bit about you: I’m Verna Volker, 47 years old, and I have four kids ages 9 – 18 years old. I’m from the Navajo Nation. I grew up in New Mexico but currently live in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
What made you want to start running? In 2009, I started my running journey to lose weight, but it has turned into a quest to find out who I am internally. This journey has taken me from a newbie runner to a marathoner and then to an ultra runner.
Favorite place to run: I love running trails that are located just outside the city.
Treadmill—love it or hate it: I used to hate the treadmill but now have embraced it and actually enjoy doing intervals on them. One of the first workouts I did after the Javelina Jundred was on the treadmill: 1 mile warm up, .24 miles x 10, 1 minute recovery between intervals, and a 1 mile cool down.
Favorite post-run food: Easy! Coffee and toast with peanut butter.
You mentioned the Javelina Jundred—what was it like to run through the night? I was starting to hurt. The bottom of my feet were hurting and my legs felt heavy. I chugged Coke at one station because I was sleepy. Then I remember looking at the time. It was 1:00 AM. I thought, “Who runs at 1 AM?” People like me do.
How did you handle the low points of such a long race? The whole expereince was very emotional and amazing, but the lowest point was at the 2nd loop. It was hot and I was getting tired. I pushed through because I remembered what I was running for. I dedicated the run to my late father and 3 siblings who passed away.
Tell us about Native Women Running: I started Native Women Running (NWR) out of frustration. One day, I was scrolling through Instagram and noticed a lack of Native women runners. When I realized many runners don’t look like me, I decided to start NWR.
My desire is for representation of Native women runners in the running world. My hope is for Native women to find belonging here. I hope NWR can be a place of positivity and encouragement for fellow sisters.
I worked on a reservation for a few years in Arizona and had an after school running club for kids and whoever else wanted to show up. We had plenty of young lady runners. This was in the late 70s/early 80s. They would show up at all the local races and do quite well. Wonder what happened?
I know a lot of people on the reservation suffer from addiction. It would be interesting to see if you could take the women that are recovering from drug and alchol addiction and introduce them to running? So many women get clean and then fall back into the same routine. I know a lot of former addicts have found a way out with running.