Virginia woman running 29 races in 1 year to raise trauma awareness

CENTER CITY – It’s Philadelphia Marathon weekend and runners from all over the world are in the City of Brotherly Love competing. One runner from Virginia is running with a very special mission. She is on her way to finish 29 races in one year to raise awareness about overcoming trauma and to, ultimately, support women in achieving their dreams.

Summer Willis of Virginia just celebrated her 29th birthday in September. She said a few months before her birthday, she made a commitment to run 29 marathons and launched a nonprofit “Strength Through Strides.”

“I had six relatives die in just a few months. I had two boys under two, and it just felt like a lot, so I felt like I was at rock bottom,” said Willis. “I decided that I was going to do something when I turned 29 to be the kind of woman I always wanted to be, the mother, the wife, the community member. So, I woke up one morning, couldn’t run a mile, just gave birth like six months ago and I was like I’m going to run 29 marathons this year.”

Willis started a training regiment a few months before her first set of marathons with the help of a coach, nutritionist and physical therapist.

Then on October 29, she signed up for the Marine 50K in Washington D.C.

“Each race is 26.2 except I missed the marathon sign-up in D.C. and so I had to run the ultra-marathon, and I was like, what’s another six miles? It was a lot,” said Willis.

Willis ran the New York City Marathon on November 5 and the Anthem Marathon in Richmond, Virginia on November 11.

Her seventh marathon is the Philadelphia Marathon on November 19.

Willis is a survivor of sexual assault and, nearly 10 years later, she is still on her path to healing.

“Trauma doesn’t go away. It lives in your brain and stays in your brain unless you actively try to recover,” said Willis.

Throughout this journey, Willis set a goal to raise $250,000 for Strength Through Strides to help women heal and achieve their dreams.

After the Philadelphia Marathon, Willis will strength train for a couple months until her next set of marathons in February. She’ll be taking on the World Marathon Challenge which consists of completing seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.

“I cry every time I get to the finish line because I shouldn’t be able to do these marathons, in my mind. I see images of myself in my post-partum belly, I get tired after walking up a flight of stairs and yet weekend after weekend I’m finishing over 26 miles,” said Willis.

If you’d like to support Strength Through Strides and their mission to support women achieve their dreams, click here.