Khati has an amazing life-long story on her quest to run the Boston Marathon. This means more to her than most people can ever understand. Through all the struggles, physical issues she’s had to work through, heartbreaks and setbacks, on November 6, 2021, she finally qualified for Boston, she BQ’d!!! This major victory pave the way to run in April 2022. Her story in her own words, is below for you to read and join in her journey. What I’m looking for today, is any willing donations to help her pay for a flight for her and her coach, plus the Boston marathon VIP package. Details are here in the link. She will only do this one time, one race, a once in a lifetime opportunity. If you are feeling generous, please donate any amount to help her enjoy her once in a lifetime dream and make it the best one she could ever have. She has fought so hard for so long, endured so much pain and heartbreak, she deserves this win, for her and for her dad!!
Her Story in her own words:
The last 24 hours has been such an amazing roller coaster, 18 months of training for a goal that when I truly started the process I doubted I could reach . The last year has been hard on most people but, I have taken some pretty big hits personally that I didn’t know if I could could back from them . I lost my best friend and person in early 2020 and then the hits just kept coming, my dad’s Alzheimer’s has progressed, then COVID canceling what was our normal happened . In true Khati fashion I tried hard to focus on what I could control but, if I am being honest I truly didn’t know what that was at times.
In early January I met with my coach and we resumed training for me trying to qualify for Boston. The training was like no other I had done and it brought me to tears and broke me in the best ways possible to dig deep and literally just do it ! For the first time in a while I would be training solely on my own with my coach joining me once in a while so that I could work on my mental toughness and mindset on a daily basis. Marathon training can get very wearing not just on your body but mentally as well. Everyday I would show up and grind and truly cry because I wasn’t “hitting” my workouts. However, every time I talked to my coach she would say “You got this just believe you can do it”. No matter the workout and it’s demands I would talk to her and if I struggled the message was always the same never wavering in my ability and never telling me I couldn’t do it I just kept showing up. Then about 2 months ago I found out I had a stress reaction in my tibia from my training and my heart sank. I had come so far and my goal event was two months away … but, once again In talking to my coach she said “We got this, we just have to adjust the way you train”. When you tell someone who is training for a running event that they won’t be running for at least two weeks your heart drops out of your chest just a little . To cross training I went grinding everyday to try and not “loose” what I had worked for . The pain in my leg got better but still not great so it was decided that running on my tread would have to happen to try and save the pounding on my leg as much as possible . I had not run outside since October 8 th until yesterday morning when I toed the start line of my marathon. The weather was PERFECT and when I got my bib number I cried happy tears. Kary was all about numbers and my number was 2422 . When she helped me pass my teachers basic skills math section of the test I scored a 242 and this would be my second attempt at running this course since it was canceled due to COVID the year before .
I was so nervous toeing the line but yet calm because I knew I had prepared the best I could for this moment .
My coach was all over the course not missing a beat and I was in the zone literally enjoying the run so much so I didn’t know what mile marker I was at , when I got to 19 doubt started to creep in but , with eye contact from my coach and her telling me I got this I took off with the heart full of believe that this WAS the day my dreams would come true !
When I got to 22 I literally had to start counting traffic lights so I could stay focused on keeping my legs moving , at 25 I was headed towards the finish and hit 26 and I hear a scream “Khati your going to do it RUN!” I took off looking for the finish but couldn’t see it because I had to make two turns yet. What I did see was my coach out of the corner of my eye running to beat me to the finish this motivated me to sprint as fast as I could on tired legs when I looked up the clock said 3:40 and I was crushed but then I remembered I started 5 minutes behind the start! When I knew I was going to have a BQ I ran as fast as I could to cross that mat . I ran a PR yesterday by 7 minutes and have a BQ with a buffer of 5 minutes to enter this April’s race . I wanted to cross it for my dad to let him know I DID IT! I wanted to cross it for me to prove to myself I DID IT , and most certainly for my coaches who have poured so many hours of themselves into me trying to achieve this goal .
To the doctors who told my parents that I would never walk let alone run because I have CP well guess what you are WRONG !!! To all of you who prayed for me , tracked me yesterday, and have helped me on my journey thank you so much !!!
#meanttodohardthings #onepeloton #2021goals #quittingisnotanoption #youwillalwaysbemyperson #blackgirlmagic #daddysgirl #bostonbound #chasingunicorns
Organizer and beneficiary
Khati Brazee
Beneficiary