Meet Kandace Konstantinides

Where to start!?

I don’t have a running background, I never ran in high-school, college or any organized group until I ran my first marathon in 2009 with a friend I met during undergrad – from then on I was hooked! At first, running was a means to living healthier and losing weight; today it is my social hour, stress relief, and a way to compete with myself.  

Flash forward a bit….this past summer I finished my 12th marathon at Grandma’s Marathon and sufficient to say…I didn’t meet my goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. I had PR’d at the Twin Cities Marathon in 2014 with a 3:42 and really set my goals high for qualifying, so my heart was broken when I finished Grandma’s a bit slower than my PR. Similar to some other “bad races” I thought the marathon just wasn’t for me….or I needed to find another approach, so I googled “running coaches” in Minneapolis and wala! I found Coach Ron 

I started training with Coach Ron at the beginning of July and since then – I have never looked back! I have tried many new things and learned to take one workout at a time  - not focusing on the future race or goal pace. I never stepped on a track for a workout until mid-July and now…that is by far my favorite workout! Something about the freedom of running fast for a specific, set amount of time and then you are done  In addition, I had never done “speed work”, had never consistently ran with a group, or really “raced” without music…actually raced in general. “Learning” to race has been a lesson in itself and now I think I actually prefer “racing” a 5k, where in the past I would have never even signed up for a 5k. I had always signed up for 10 milers, half-marathons, marathons, and ultra marathons.

This summer of running has taught me a lot of lessons, created an amazing amount of friendships, and resulted in plenty of successes! I recently PR’ed in the 5k by ~4 minutes. I think previous to joining Mile to Marathon my 5k was ~25:15 and last weekend I PR’d at the ALARC Legends 5k & 10k Races with a 21:22 – not to mention won the race for women (first win ever!) and the 10 mile by I PR’d by ~ 2 minutes at the White Bear Lake 10 mile& 20 mile races with a 1:18. The best part of this story is I know I can run faster, more efficient and meet by long-term goal of qualifying  for the Boston Marathon. Not only do I know I can meet this goal and beyond but also having the support of Coach Ron and the team makes it THAT much better!

I am most definitely looking forward to running the Twin Cities 10 mile race this coming weekend- not only for a PR, but I LOVE this course, the people, and the energy! In addition, my running friends are like my second family – everyone understands each other and no matter what, runners connect to runners, we can talk about anything and everything during a run – that’s what makes running in a group/team fabulous! I can’t thank Coach Ron and the Mile to Marathon team enough!!

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!!

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