My mom, Michaela Bolivar.

Michaela was the most loved, caring, and supportive mom, wife, and friend anyone could ask for. She was also a runner, and she's the one who got me into it when I was a teenager — 5am miles before school, runs on family vacations, all of it. Running was ours long before I understood what it would come to mean.

In 2020, my mom passed away from pancreatic cancer. Since then, I've run or ridden every year in her honor, and this October, I'm taking on my first World Major: the Chicago Marathon.

I've been training since June, and I have two more long runs before I start to taper. My goal is to break four hours, but really, crossing that finish line for her is the win that matters most.

I'm raising funds for the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research — the disease that took my mom. Pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest survival rates of any major cancer worldwide, with close to as many deaths each year as new diagnoses. Every donation helps fund the research working to change that, no matter where in the world it comes from.

If you've supported me in past years, thank you — it means more than you know. If you're new here, I'd love to have you join us before race day on October 11th. Every dollar, big or small, is a step toward a cure — and toward keeping my mom's love, spirit, and name alive, one mile at a time.