FIT Feature: Brooke Sydnor Curran
Kelly recently had the privilege to sit down with accomplished runner, entrepreneur, mom extraordinaire, and great friend, Brooke Sydnor Curran, to talk all things running and life.
Brooke ran her first marathon in 2003 and she’s currently nearing the 150 marathon mark. Her accomplishments include running all 7 continents, completing the 6 World Marathon Majors, and finishing a marathon in all 50 States. She’s also been running a marathon a month since May 2009, except for her 6 month brain aneurysm hiatus (yes, you read that right), including two Ironman, a trail 100 miler, and 5 marathons in 5 different states in 5 days.
“This [5,5,5] event was great – so low key and just epically grassroots. We literally would run around a basketball court and take off elastics to count laps. Talk about getting back to basics – it can be so simple, right? ”
Brooke’s resume goes far beyond the miles she has run. From the mental and physical obstacles that she has overcome to turning her passion into a way to give back, she holds nothing back when it comes to sharing her story!
What or who inspired you to start running?
So that was 9/11. My kids were in elementary school and I was watching Regis and Kathy Lee and the story was breaking. When the first plane hit it was just so crazy; I wasn’t realizing what was actually happening. Then, when the second plane hit, you knew this was not a mistake.
We are just two miles (as a crow flies) from the Pentagon and I could hear and then see the plane hit the Pentagon and I just remember running out the door to go and get my kids from school. It was a gut-wrenching feeling.
I had always been waiting for life to take me, to present me with something, but then at some point you need to start taking life. That is where I said I am going to start with my bucket list. And that was the marathon. Of course I thought I was one and done. But I was so pissed with my time that it turned into more.
So, 9/11 was my spark. If I don’t take opportunities now in my life, then I will be waiting forever. That was the start to me doing things I wanted to do.
Take us back to that first marathon and how it lead you to where you are today.
So yes, I ran my first marathon in 2003 and I was so pissed at my time I decided to run more. The only culture I knew then was to get fast and to get good. I spent the next three years doing that and I got pretty fast! At 40+ I had run a 3:09 (PR) and a 1:29 half.
But what was so ironic is the faster I got the less it meant to me. That is when I decided to run for a cause and become more aware of my community here in Alexandria, VA. The lack of equity and resources was astounding. It was again that 9/11 moment – and I thought – if not me then who? If not now then when? So I said, let’s go and I started RunningBrooke in 2009.
In building the concept, I was fortunate enough to sit down and have a great conversation with Michael Wardian. I asked him: What would impress you? His response, “well, a marathon a month would impress me.” And so I said, “ok.” So the focus on raising funds and giving back started with the marathon a month and then I added the 50 states, the seven continents, the world marathon majors. I am still running a marathon a month – actually I am doing it tomorrow – want to join?
Let me check my calendar 😅…but in the meantime, tell us more about RunningBrooke.
Running and being active throughout the day has taught me so much, and I wanted to bring the same opportunities and equity to open opportunities for kids in my community, especially kids living in poverty or facing serious obstacles in life. Do you know that here in Alexandria, 40% of the kids receive reduced lunch and there are 118 different languages spoken?
“Often physical activity is the bridge for kids learning English because it’s a language they can all speak.”
So I wanted to get kids engaging in running and being active which then engages them in learning; in doing so they learn more – their brains are stimulated more – they have stronger minds and bodies, so it’s a win win all around. This is why it is so important for kids to be active.
Today, we have helped over 10,000 kids and invested over 1.5 million dollars back into the community. We work in every school, mostly with teachers, and provide fun ways for short bursts of movement in the classroom. Kids can focus and get their wiggles out. It helps with fewer kids going to the principal office, helps lessen class room disruption, increases school attendance and retention, performance and health – movement is so powerful. It is way more than building muscle, it builds your brain, it builds social and emotional learning and we see this great impact among our Alexandria community.
How has running changed your life?
It has taught me everything. I honestly think that if I didn’t run – if I didn’t have the impetus back then – my life would be 180 degrees different. I wasn’t even a runner when 9/11 came. I was a pack a day smoker until 24.
For me, running is that huge mental piece; something I can own. I felt like I didn’t own anything in my life. It is huge what running can do for your physical and mental self. I do my best thinking running.
What is your running mantra?
Light and loose.
Because – and this goes into so much about what running taught me – I take things way too seriously. I try too hard. I always over train. I am always super competitive with myself. So, light and loose are those words I repeat to bring it all down to earth. Because sometimes you are your own worst critic - you are the inhibitor of yourself.
I take all of these things – going out too fast, trying too hard, carrying tension in my shoulders – and say all right; its okay; light and loose. And then, you get into it. You get into your rhythm and you settle and your body and mind start to work together instead of against one another.
Favorite event and why?
This question is hard for me. But probably my 3:09 because it was something that I worked really hard towards for 3-4 months and I was able to overcome that crash and burn moment. Because the marathon distance is a distance where you can totally (pardon my French) F it up. If you don’t get your nutrition right, if you don’t hydrate enough, if you don’t do XYZ then you can really mess it up and you have to keep your shit together.
The Great Wall and Antarctica marathons, yes those were cool, but you know what – honestly – it was that satisfaction of seeing everything come together when so many factors could have gone wrong. And I did it. So for me, it’s the 3:09.
“It’s not about the event or crowds for me – it’s all about – yeah, the running, the mental game and embracing what you and your body can do.”
Sometimes everything doesn’t come together and those moments are just as impactful. What was your most important running experience and why?
I attempted the Leadville 100 miler in 2017. I ran 83 miles in 27 hours and I missed the final time cutoff by 2 minutes.
[Brooke heads to the corner of the room and grabs a frame off the wall]
See this [pointing at her framed Leadville bib]? All my other running trinkets, they’re all in a drawer. All the age group stuff is collecting dust. What do I frame – the “failure.” Now is it really a failure? I’m not sure. But the fact is that at Leadville I was pulled off the course, my only DNF.
“So I had to put another 100 miler on the books. I had to finish that piece. I had to finish that distance. ”
Fast forward to March 18, 2018, it was St. Paddy’s Day actually, eight months after Leadville and the first day my coach had me start to train for Leadville again. I had been running a marathon a month after the “fail.” It was a Saturday morning – my God, I am getting chills telling you this…
So typical Saturday morning, I get up, I get my shit together and I am driving to a place I always go to run – it’s a trail trek through a forest. But we recently had a storm that knocked all these trees down so when I arrive, the park is closed. This was not in my plan. What do you mean the park is closed? I think about parking there, hopping the caution tape and just running regardless and typically I would have done that – but for some reason I didn’t.
I remember looking at my phone and seeing Fountainhead Park was nearby and my coach told me it was a good place to run. I arrive, get ready, and just as I am about to head out, three women are coming mid run to grab stuff out of their car. I never do this – because I am a total solo runner – but I ask these three women which way to go. They said, “why don’t you run with us?” Any other time I would have said that I really appreciated the offer but I am kind of a solo runner, but for some reason that day I said, “sure.”
We start running and start talking, the normal banter – what are you training for? What have you run? Five minutes in, I started feeling like I had the flu or food poisoning. I remember getting sick and then it was like a sledge hammer hit my head.
Those women refused to leave me. I had no idea what happened until well after this ordeal when I reconnected with them and they revisited that day.
They said I told them I would be fine, but they were adamant about not leaving me. They said it took an hour to get to the car. I called my husband, Chris. He says I said – “something is not right, can you come get me?”
You wouldn’t have known anything was going on if you looked at me. An aneurysm is a stroke – I should have had all these symptoms indicative of the massive failure and blood bleed happening in my brain – but I looked fine – no symptoms.
So much so that I convinced Chris that I could drive my car back home. So I drive home – on I-95 highway mind you – and I fall asleep at the last stop light to my house. Somehow I manage to pull into my driveway, head into the house and, so unlike me, immediately take a 2 hour nap. I woke up and said to Chris something is not right.
There was so much blood in my brain at that point, I should have been dead. I had to wait three weeks in the hospital for the swelling/blood to subside before I was ready for the 10 hour surgery.
“I am so lucky, I was able to survive with very little permanent damage. ”
I did everything wrong. All of my neurologists agree that I was in the prime of my life and that is the reason I was alive. Incredible luck and some great surgeons. If I had any preexisting condition, I would have been a goner. Listen to yourself – even if something is not wrong – if you feel even slightly off, listen to yourself.
How was it to retrain/relearn/return to running?
I was in the hospital a little over three weeks. I had such a significant leg drag that I had to retrain my mind and body to walk and my brain to fire that motion again. The first thing I wanted to do was to start running again. And that made everything connect.
It was the best worst thing that ever happened to me. Meaning – worst that it happened and I saw the other side and I said not today – but the best and what is so amazing and warming is that I wasn’t scared. I am not scared about dying. That experience taught me not to be scared.
I still have a hard time with short term memory. There are years of my life that totally got zapped, but there is also this love of life and this joy and appreciation and understanding. That is the best of what happened. The family support and the deeply emotional things that happen with family and community.
And 6 months later, I ran a marathon.
What was your worst (or funniest - in hindsight) race or travel moment?
Oh I remember one – it’s a good one. I got a marathon date wrong on my calendar – it was a week prior. My friend called me and said, “what time do you want to leave tomorrow?” He’s a jokester so I responded, “you’re kidding me, right?” He wasn’t. I almost missed a marathon because it was the next day and we had to fly there and I had to pack – it wasn’t just a hop in your car ordeal. So yes – entirely documenting the wrong date and whipping together last minute travel plans to land the next day I would say is a big travel mistake, but it all worked out and is now a great story!
If you were given a one-minute ad slot during the Super Bowl, what would you fill it with?
I would have everyone get up off of their sofas and do a one minute brain boost video. That is what we do – we produce these videos for kids and families to get active. Super fun things you can do in your house and without equipment. So I would run that and get people up and moving!
