Tell me a little bit about yourself.

​As a RRCA certified race director and running coach, I volunteered with the Charlottesville Track Club for over 13 years by creating logos, managing training programs, and promoting events. My proudest achievement is the creation of the Rivanna Greenbelt Marathon in 2014. The 10th running of the event will be celebrated on December 4, 2022.

I worked for 22 years at Learning Without Tears, a family-owned company that specializes in handwriting, literacy, and keyboarding. It seems a bit kismet considering I had horrible penmanship as a child despite always loving to write, eventually earning my MFA in Creative Writing from George Mason University.

hometown:
I was born in Findlay, OH, raised in Reading, PA, worked in DC for 12 years, living in Charlottesville, VA since 2005.

favorite inspirational quote:
“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we might oft win by fearing to attempt.”
From “Measure for Measure” by Shakespeare
I am not a huge Shakespeare fan, I prefer James Joyce, but my husband is a 17th century scholar who shared his colleague’s favorite Shakespeare quote with me back in 2012. It’s been a running mantra and Geeks Who Drink Trivia team name ever since!

favorite author:
I got married on Bloomsday, June 16, the day depicted in James Joyce’s novel Ulysses. I named my son, Laoghaire Ignatius, after the Irish town Dún Laoghaire where you’ll find the James Joyce Tower & Museum and a character from the short story “A Little Cloud” in Dubliners. My daughter’s name, Annalivia Plurabelle, comes from a character in Finnegans Wake, who’s a personification of the River Liffey, which flows through Dublin.

what I do for fun:
I love long walks, slow runs, Pokémon GO, Geeks Who Drink Trivia, and Wordle.

random facts:

• My parents didn't know they were having twins so my identical twin sister was a surprise addition a minute after my arrival. They didn't label our baby photos so I don't know which one I am for most of them!
• When I met David Simon (The Wire) and Alan Ball (Six Feet Under) I told them their t.v. series saved my marriage. :)
• Inflatable costumes take me to my happy place.
• I've qualified for and ran the Boston Marathon 4 times, I finished less than an hour before the bombs went off in 2013 and ran side-by-side with my twin sister in 2017.
• I'm excited when Pumpkin Spice coffee is available in August and there's a holiday rom-com in October.

if I could have one magical super power:

• The ability to write a one-hit-wonder (I’ve dabbled in lyrics since I was a teenager, but I can’t compose music or play any instrument except the drums!)

bucket list:

• Be an extra on one of my favorite t.v. shows (Succession or Girls5Eva)
• Develop my own cartoon or comic (even if it’s just one!)
• Write a song (even if no one but me ever hears it)
• Create a short documentary on the Rivanna Greenbelt Marathon