Becky's Story

"Hard work, dedication, perseverance are all words that describe what it took to train for my marathon. I could not have learned what it took without the help of my dear friend and running coach, Laura Gietl.

 

I met Laura a very long time ago, as I was her babysitter for her, at the time, two year old daughter. Fast forward to 2017, Laura had been following me on Facebook, as my friend, and kept up with me as I trained for my Cowtown 10k. She would cheer me on, leave me comments and likes, and even message me words of encouragement and advice. I ran into her at packet pick up before the race and we exchange lots of hugs and laughter. Afterwards she said, “You could TOTALLY do a half marathon, Becky!” I believed I looked at her like she was crazy and laughed really hard! She planted that little seed in my head, though.

 

A few weeks later I messaged her and said “Alright, fine. You win. I’m doing the Panther City Half.” I could feel her excitement for me. She then started my training plan. She was very detail oriented and checked in with me every week to see how I was doing. I was still alive, so that was good news. Fast forward to Cowtown Marathon 2018. I had planned to do my debut marathon in November during the Fort Worth Marathon, however family schedules and training schedules just wouldn’t mesh. So I pushed it back to Cowtown. I had finished a few 5ks, one 10k, a 15k night trail race, and 5 half marathons. All of which Laura helped me train for. I was truly proud of myself. Once again, at packet pickup, there was Laura with her bright shining smile. We exchanged hugs and laughter. She was so excited for me I don’t think she could’ve given me a tighter squeeze of a hug if she wanted to. We looked at what corral I would be in. She gave me the rundown on what I should have in my pack. She told me how I should pace myself and how proud she was of me. During the race we some how connected just after the half marathon check point. Once again laughing, carrying on with her running pal, stopping and chatting with all the different block parties. Everybody knew Laura. I was sad she did not get to see me finish, but I was doing the marathon and she had to split to go do the ultra. It was truly an amazing experience, and had it not been for her love, support, encouragement, positive attitude, and coaching, I would not have started such an amazing running journey nor would I be as successful as I am today.

 

Thank you, Laura. Everything you have done for me, has been absolutely above and beyond what any coach has done for their athlete. Hats off to you dear friend.

Sincerely,

Becky LaChance"