By Kelly Joy — February 27, 2023

Photos provided by Erin Sabolick

*Erin runs Chicago Marathon - October 9, 2022*.

Mamas are Amazing.

Erin Sabolick, resident of Philadelphia, 41 years old, mother of two (ages four and six), emergency room and intensive care unit doctor, now marathoner, coached by BU coach Tansey Hensley. Phew that’s a big list! When I first read Erin’s life stats, I was like um WOW, this woman is amazing, brave, strong, resilient, and very clearly an all-around “bad ass.”

As a mother of smalls, who runs myself, I know how hard doing both in tandem can be. It can be tricky, exhausting and at times a logistical nightmare. Now let us add in that Erin is also a doctor in not one but two of the most stressful and chaotic departments in a hospital; ER and the ICU. Therefore, for her to accomplish her recent completion of the Chicago marathon, (before even speaking with her) would have taken extreme drive, diligence, gritty determination, mixed with extensive organizational skills, and a knowledge that she must live with an abundance of lost sleep and tiredness. I am already in awe, and we have yet to speak to each other.

The phone rings and Erin picks up the line, she has agreed to chat with me in between her work shifts. A rich but tentative voice answers, and off I go. We spend a lovely hour chatting about her recent Chicago marathon accomplishment, her training and what propelled her to restart running later in life.

Erin shares her story, and is extremely vulnerable, plus brave to tell these details to a stranger. She opens up to explain that Chicago marathon was her first marathon back after having children; she felt it was the right moment to create time for herself, and provide a place for self-care and work on her mental health. Heartbreakingly, Erin had recently lost a child midterm in her pregnancy and had to make the difficult decision of an elective abortion. As a mother of two already, that loss and decision making is heart wrenching. The grief, anguish, and hopelessness are feelings only a mother who has carried a child can feel. It is also a loss that will never go away, when a child dies, a part of you will always weep with the love you had. There will forever be a hole in your heart where a child’s smile would have sat, a hand that should have held yours, a “I love you” that will never be whispered. The grief is indescribable, and raw, yet Erin took the extremely brave step to look after herself and channel her grief into running. She put a race in her calendar, and made it happen, her training and recovery began.

For all who run, you will understand how moving your body methodically, and physically through time and space, creates a safe place to feel sad, to grieve, to process, to feel free for a moment of the restrictions of your life. All you can think about, or relate to, is the movement and expenditure of the run. It truly is a meditation in flow.

The Road to Chicago 2022

We start to chat about her journey to Chicago, what was her training like, how did she fit it in, what grace did she give herself with her heavy workload, and home life.

Erin shares that she has an extremely supportive husband, who after 22 years, is always there to lift her up, and share the workload of day-to-day parenting. With her intense work life Erin had to run either at 4.30am before work or 9pm at night after work and being with her children, thankfully as an ER doctor, Erin is an expert multitasker. Although this does mean her mind is rarely quiet, but running helps her to do that, it also provided a place for her to grieve her loss. All of Erin’s runs were solitary, but with a very people focused job, she relishes the alone time.

“Running is the only time my brain quietens down and I am able to hold one thought, one person, one event in my mind.”

With an intense job and kids, I ask how she managed to hit all her runs, was she able to give herself flexibility and grace if at times regular life was just too much. Because as mothers we will always put our kids before anything we give ourselves.

“ I was able to hit about 80% of the work outs, I had to be flexible and understanding. I would always try to do the workouts, and longs runs and if I needed to, I would drop the easy runs. Thankfully, Tansey was extremely supportive to my ever-changing life schedule.”

Going into The Chicago Marathon, Erin’s training had been very consistent and she only missed a few days, I personally was in awe of her tenacity and drive. I was also impressed by her brief foot issue in training, being the cause of standing on Lego, that stuff is lethal 😊

Race Weekend

Erin shares that Chicago was the best experience, and she was so inspired by the running community there. The positive message from women running at the race, was motivating, and exciting. Erin did her shake out run with American distance runner Keira D’Amato, also a mother of two, who she said was wonderful and encouraging.

Erin runs 26.2 miles in Chicago, she crushes. She finishes and is only 1 minute short of the time she set when she ran her first marathon age 27 years old, and only 9 minutes away from her PR she ran age 29. What an achievement, I am sooo excited for her, I ask Erin from this amazing comeback, how can she see her running developing in the future.

Erin discusses she would like to run something shorter to work on her speed to help her marathon time, and that Tansey and she had discussed the Cherry Blossom 10 miler, plus a Fall marathon. As she makes her way to potentially completing the BIG 6 (NYC, Chicago, London, Berlin, Boston, Tokyo)

Takeaways, of the Running Variety.

I ask Erin, from her journey into her first post kids marathon, what did she learn about herself, and what did she feel she needed to work on for future challenges. Erin reveals she realized she was not doing anything for herself and was always giving to others. Running provided a way for Erin to do something personally that was positive and mindful, she quickly realized that there, close to the surface was an ability to persevere, work hard and be gritty.

Erin shared that she would like to work on her training consistency and see where that takes her. In addition to start exploring strength work, and again build this into her routine. As currently if something has to give in her life, it would not be what she does for her kids, husband, and job, but herself. She always prioritizes herself last, this is something she needs to work on. If she can give herself the time and love, she then shows her children how to care for themselves too. She creates a role model for her kids, not only from her amazing marathon accomplishments, but her ability to work hard, juggle her life and put herself first at times. She hopes her children can experience it with her and be proud. I am sure they are, probably more than she ever knows.

As our hour draws to an end, I start to contemplate on how much I have enjoyed this short time with Erin, how her achievements made me feel proud to be a woman, a mother, and a runner. I love people like Erin, they are the ones who make me excited about running, they are the people we should be talking about more, and sharing their stories.

These are humans who have gravitated to running to heal, to create time to be, to make friends, to push their bodies, and see where they can take them. These are the superstars, who have to juggle, work hard to balance time, to hold down demanding jobs, raise kids, be tired, make dinner for a family, walk the dog, do chores, LIVE LIFE and still make time to run. To put in the hours, the miles, in the dusky dark of an early morning sunrise while the world is sleeping, kicking off shoes as the kids wake for breakfast and then jumping in to a shower to start their real life. They do long runs, then take kids to soccer, workouts and then drive to work. These runners are diligent, strong, dedicated to getting to the start line and making THEIR JOURNEY to the finish line, running under that arch and realizing I did that. As the shiny medal slips over their heads, with a crowd cheering, it’s a beacon to reflect a smile that knows they are officially a bad ass, who ran a damn long way. 26.2 miles! That is what makes the marathon great, it is hard, but achievable to all who are brave enough to toe that line, take a deep breath, and run.

That is what Erin symbolizes, she is all those people brave enough to believe in themselves and try, and I am extremely honored to be able to know her story and share it.

*Erin with her husband and their girls.*

Erin Stats

Favorite Sneaker – New Balance Version 4 More (Training) / Asics Metaspeed Sky (Race)
Fuel – Huma Gel Plus / Skratch Labs
Who Inspires you? – “My Kids. Also, after coming through COVID as an ER and ICU Doctor, it was a really scary time and I was never home, all those nurses were truly inspirational.”
Who did you meet on the way? – “I met so many great people in the running community, my colleague is amazing and trying to run a marathon in every state. I also really loved getting to know Tansey and Kelsey (Meteor Nutrition) and watching how they support athletes.”
What is a secret superpower people may not know about you? – “I am a particularly good baker, I stress bake. Each Christmas Holiday season I start baking cookies in October and bake over 1500 cookies to give to friends and people as care packages.” – Um WOW
What is your favorite cookie? – The Linzer cookie.
Running partner? – “Telly” my dog,

“My kids inspire me, they are so vibrant, and love life. To watch a child run, is to watch a person run with pure joy.” - Erin Sabolick