By Kelly Joy — April 2024

Photos provided by Brittany Kelland

It is not every day you are lucky enough to interview your very own running wife AKA best friend, and I was lucky enough to be able to do that. Brittany Kelland, BK, Britt, is officially THE shiniest human I have ever met, and I love a sparkly person. It was 3 years ago on a dark, rainy morning, I was the new kid in the running group, I knew no one, and I was feeling extra terrified, “am I too slow, am I too old?” kept whizzing threw my head, until I met Britt.

She was practically a ball of sunshine amongst the gloom, just fizzing with energy, a huge smile and could not wait to talk to me. I instantly relaxed, and just knew I wanted to be her friend. The thing about Brittany is, she is like this all the time, a ball of fire, always excited, always positive and if she could have glittery skin, I know she would take it in a heartbeat. If you know Brittany Kelland, you know exactly what I mean. She literally is one of my favorite humans in the whole entire world, there is not a bad bone in her body, and she has the ability to find the bright and beautiful in everything.

OK, enough of me gushing as I could literally be here all day. What about the running you say, well wait a minute, let me get to that, but let’s just say, she is a fast, a marathoner with so much potential and for 2024 she is running in the Boston and Chicago World Marathon Majors. Because, as we all know, every good story has a beginning, and here is hers.

When I call Brittany, she is busy, but sitting crossed legged on her floor in a spot of sunlight, just basking in the sun like a cat on a warm spring day. I smile, she says “Oh hello darling” in her best British accent, which I have to admit is pretty good these days and very posh. We begin……

Brittany the Beginning 😊

Brittany was born in Miami to her Ecuadorian mother and American father in 1986 (yes that makes her thirty-seven ish), from a child into her informative years, her family moved numerous times and Britt was always the new kid. She eventually settled in Atlanta where she finished high school and started college. As part of her narrative, and so as a reader you can truly comprehend how strong she is as a person I would like to share that due to personal relationships Brittany’s childhood was not always the most stable, with negligible adult support, leading to her having to become a true feisty, fighter. Listening to how she navigated her life from a young age, her schooling and graduating college, truly blew me away. More on this in bit.

Let’s get to the running you all cry…. OK OK I am getting there NOW.

Running – it is always by her side.

Our sparkle protagonist is a very talented runner, who was never quite given the support and breaks, so here she is at 37, 2 kids later, a single parent, full time employee at TrainingPeaks, just crushing. Seeing how fast she can go in the marathon is just a matter of time and confidence in her body’s ability to hurt.

Britt did run at school, but due to relocating yearly during middle school, it was not until high school that she started to flex her sport muscles. In high school, our fierce fairy played competitive soccer as right outside mid, and was on the track team, where in 10th grade she broke her high school mile record with 5:20 mile (mind blown) yes, she is the proud owner of a large amount of fast twitch fibers. Heading into college, College Park, Atlanta, to study Architecture, Brittany had three academic and a sport scholarship, smart and fast! However, sadly due to circumstances beyond her control Brittany had to change her major to Spanish after one year, because she had to get a job, to support herself through school. Brittany thanks to her Ecuadorian mother could already speak Spanish, so the course enabled her to work, pay her way and graduate. Her running also took a hit, when she started to work and moved areas to Kennesaw State University, which was a safer town at night for her to walk home from work. Kennesaw was a D1 school for track, unfortunately though due to her life circumstances, she could only turn up to track meets, again another adult failed to support her when she was told, she could be on the team, if she gave up her job, sold her car, and wore a kit that was a size too small for her, so she promptly quit running. Brittany is truly one of the most willful and resilient people I have ever met, I am proud to know her.

I ask, “how did this make you feel?” Her response is a testament to who she is at her very essence.

“It actually did not affect me, as it was not the first time I have faced adversity, and having to do something on my own, it was just another person in my life saying no.”

The ability to persevere when life keeps pushing you to fail or fall, is a trait I believe is integral to success in the marathon. To keep surging forward, and looking ahead rather than behind, the floor or just simply giving up is what makes a good runner, and even more so a marathoner. Brittany has the potential to be an exceptional marathoner.

I always like to ask the question “Why do you run, what is it about a seemingly monotonous sport that you love?” I usually get, to get alone time, mental health, running away from demons, escaping the modern world, believe it or not I have NEVER received the answer Brittany shares.

“I run to feel powerful, fast, strong. For the unstoppable feeling it gives me inside, like I am Wonder Woman. To run is to be strong, accomplished, giving me a sense of pride. It means success, it provides a constant security in knowing it is the one thing that is ALWAYS there. To put one foot in front of the other is good for my health and is an expression of power.”

This statement literally warmed my soul and made me smile so wide from its joyous beauty…

The Nitty Gritty of Marathon Training.

Our sparkling sister is still pretty new to the marathon. When she runs Boston on 15th April 2024, it will only be her fifth marathon. We chat about training, especially being a single mum with two kids under ten, with a fulltime job, how does she fit the miles in? Especially, as her last marathon time at the Indy Monumental Marathon was 3 hours flat, she is speedy and has the potential to hit a sub 2hr 50mins in the very near future. I ask her, how do you fit it all in, and she states quite frankly that there is no magic spell she weaves but the honest truth is….

“I have no choice but to get it done, you just do it through routine, planning, staying diligent, saying no, with sleep being my number one tool to keeping it all together.”

I ask her to share a typical day….

4.30am – alarm goes off, she eats a full breakfast before she trains, as you cannot be half assed about it, she uses the bathroom, gets the kids clothes and bags ready for school, gets dressed.
6.00am – she leaves the house and runs to her workout / run, as no time to drive anywhere. (Note Brittany sometimes has to hire a sitter to get the kids to school, or on workout mornings the kids father will take them occasionally, otherwise it is the Treadmill).
7.50am – returns home.
8.00am – logs into work. She works continuously until….
2.30pm – she has lunch and picks up her children from school, taking her computer, so she can work in car line. Drives home.
3.00pm – continues to work, while the kids play.
5.00pm - she clocks off and then lifts weights and runs her double (Mon / Th)
6.00pm – cooks dinner.
7.00pm – bathes children
8.00pm – kids to bed
8.30pm – Britt showers and goes to bed herself to start it all over again the next day.

This is a day with little give, its regimented and structured, but effective to achieving the needs of her job, her running, and her kids. It takes grit to keep going and not give up, just like the marathon. Brittany shares that she is built for this as a person, because over many years this has never broken her, she is the same person with just experiences and age wrapped around her.

“I know I am strong; I would not be here without my strength, I have not changed essentially from when I was young, but my perspective has, I raised my standards in what I wanted from a friendship, a relationship, I can weed out the good people, who are also powerful and shiny.”

What I LOVE about this is, when we are forever reprimanded for saying/or seeing the wonder in ourselves, Brittany does not, she rises above those social self-depreciating norms and forges her own narrative. Her confidence in who she is as a person is refreshing and is a lesson to all of us.

I know I really have not talked about her running, but I truly believe this is important for you as the reader to understand that to run a marathon may sound purist, but to get there it is wild, messy, complicated, and really hard as a parent, who is divorced, usually alone, has responsibilities and young children. It is literally an endurance race to get to the start line.

I ask about marathon goals, of course there are always time goals, Sub 3hours, Sub 2 hours 50 mins. Yet, more importantly for our heroine, it is about getting to the start line healthy, wearing matching outfits with a team member, ribbons in her hair, glitter on her face, feeling good, being excited – it is all about have absolutely f#cking ZERO CHILL….

“I want to feel good, look good and run fast.”

Finding Boulder Underground

After moving to Colorado from Atlanta with her family 5 years ago, Brittany was NOT RUNNING, she was an Orange Theory Bunny and her coach came up to her and said, “you are really fast, you need to start training for the Olympics,” Britt is like WOW sign me up. It was in fact Alex Rogers yes Puma Elites Natasha Rogers sister, however, due to life Alex had to stop coaching Brittany and recommended Matt Hensley of Boulder Underground. They chatted and that was it.

What is it about Matt’s training that you like?

“With a busy life I like that it doesn’t exhaust me every day, he coaches for people who have lives. He is kind, understanding and laid back. Matt is a person who commands respect, not demand it.”

What is it about the Marathon?

For the past 2 years Brittany has run a marathon every 6 months, it has not always been easy, as she has had to work through a bought of COVID before one, low Iron before another, but with each hurdle though, her times have gotten faster. She explains that her mind loves the continuous training, it makes her feel stronger both physically and mentally. Running makes her excited, she cannot wait for Boston and Chicago this year and hopefully Berlin next year, as she slowly ticks off the majors. Between you and I Brittany is one of the most consistently strong runners I have ever met, and she is forever upbeat, I have never seen her fed up with running, like ever. She is truly inspiring, I look up to her and her dedication, her tenacity, and her ability to be a rock star at everything she does. I ask her what/who drives and inspires you and she rightly says “myself.” She reveals she wants to be a role model to women, her kids.

“You can be amazing, whatever life throws at you, it is always up to you at how you react, and it is in your POWER, so just do it!”

Because running to Brittany is simply that “just running,” it is about having fun and being fierce, feisty, and fashionable, body glitter and outfits while still being super-fast with zero chill . 😊To look at running in its most basic form and to appreciate it and love it for its sheer simplicity is a gift. It is a love of movement in its most primal state, and yes as humans we have created events, boundaries, structure, expense, elitism, dos, and don’ts to an activity which is essentially a leg extension faster than a walk pace is wildly amusing. Yet to always remember its roots in survival for us as a species is essential, we ran to eat, to get away from danger, we ran as kids for freedom, flight, and pleasure. To tap into all its facets at it’s very core, we do not need special shoes, or kit or run gangs, to run does not make us special or cool, but simply alive, relishing in our basic instincts and essentially with running it really does not matter how fast or slow you are, you are just being human, and in a way that is what Brittany remembers. Yes, she wants to be fast, but she also knows it’s a gift of nature, a way to feel free and be protected, and for all the glitter in the world you cannot hide its raw beauty. It is a gift we take for granted, yet Brittany does not, no matter how she performs this year, she embraces all it is and showers her sparkle on it as flies round a track or pounds down a street, trips along a trail, hammers up a hill she gives it herself, zero chill and all. Allowing its gifts to propel her through whatever challenges she may encounter. I am excited to see her talent shine this year and whatever happens she will always be the happiest person in the world.

Brittany Kelland Stats

Fuel – in her words, “none stop, I eat all the damn time, I try to consume at least 350g of carbohydrates a day.” Gels – whatever is on sale, yet a month before a race and during the race Maurten Gels. Drink – Skratch. Pre-Race Breakfast – Bagel with butter.
Shoes – for training – anything on sale, specific favorites are – Saucony Speeds – Tempo, Nike Infinity React / Brooks Launch – Easy runs. Adidas Adizero Pro 3s – Race day.
1 Year Plan – Running - to run a sub three marathon. In life – “to continue being a badass.”
5 Year Plan – Tick more Marathon Majors off the list. In life – ‘to just keep swimming through the waves of life.”
Something people may not know about you – “I used to be a wedding photographer, which took me all over the world.”

“No matter what happens in life, you can never break a person who has a good spirit. Mine was never broken, I never had to change who I was at my very core.” – Brittany Kelland