Hey friends! I’m so excited to share this conversation with Serena Burla. I recently had the opportunity to emcee the Big Sur International Marathon, and as I was checking out the leaderboard, I saw Serena’s name—and I thought, wait, I know that name! Serena is a retired professional runner, and sure enough, she was out there racing—and won the marathon in 2:49.
A couple weeks later, we sat down to chat all about that experience and what it’s like to race a marathon post-retirement. Serena is a 2:26 marathoner who’s represented Team USA multiple times, including at the 2017 World Championships in London. She’s also a two-time cancer survivor. In 2010, she was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma in her leg. She came back from that diagnosis to run some of her fastest races ever—and then faced a recurrence of the same cancer in 2017. Through it all, she’s continued to show up with strength, optimism, and perspective.
In this episode, we talk about her incredible career, her mindset through some of the hardest moments, and what life looks like now as a mom of three. Serena isn’t on social media, so if you’ve followed her running journey in the past, I think you’ll really love this update. She has such a beautiful spirit and I walked away from this conversation feeling really inspired.
Big thanks to the Big Sur International Marathon for connecting us—if you haven’t checked out that race yet, add it to your list!
What we talked about:
4:00- Catching up with Serena and her recent race at the Big Sur Marathon
7:00- Reflecting on Boston 2018
9:10- Her win at Big Sur
17:00- Her family
23:20- Her cancer diagnosis and battle with cancer
38:00- Her faith throughout this process
39:00- Deciding to grow her family after her cancer treatments and after her marathon career
43:10- Training leading into Big Sur
54:10- End of podcast questions
Show notes:
The Rose Code
Hotel Flamingo
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