Welcome to My Personal Page

Last November, I signed up to run a half marathon in my hometown of San Francisco along with some runner friends of mine. I had always wanted to develop a running habit, but lacked the motivation to do so. With the help of friends, a training plan, and a mentor/personal pep talker, I built up my fitness over the following 11 weeks and ran the half in February.

The first 6 weeks of training sucked. I hated every run. But something happened in the 7th week - suddenly, the first 3 miles of each run weren’t torture. 5-mile runs got less intimidating. And by the time the race rolled around, I was looking forward to running every day. I was hooked.

The race was hard. The last 2 miles were torture. My hips hurt, my muscles were stiff, I had a weird cramp in my shoulder, and I felt like I was out of gas. But when I crossed the finish line, I was so excited that I had done it, and I wanted to push myself even further. As I hobbled around, I made the decision then and there that I would complete a full marathon by the end of the year.

I told my friends of my intentions, and they mentioned that they were considering signing up for the NYC Marathon. November 5th? I was in.

We signed up for the lottery - slim chances - and none of us got in. Our only other option to run the race was to sign up with a charity. 

I’d rather run for a cause, rather than just for my own personal satisfaction anyway.

So, we decided to sign up to run to support the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), to aid in the fight against deforestation, climate change, water scarcity, and illegal wildlife trade. 

As a self-proclaimed outdoorsy person, I’ve always been passionate about the environment and protecting our animal kingdom, whether it’s in the ocean, on land, or in the air. And running this race on behalf of the WWF gives me a chance to give back and encourage others to do so as well.

We can all protect the very things that keep us alive: our forests, our oceans, our fresh water, our wildlife, our energy supply, our food supply.  

If you're feeling generous, click the orange button above and make a donation to the cause. 

And if you can't contribute in a financial way, I'd love to hear about how you contribute to protecting your environment, whether it's volunteering time or talent, or something as simple as just composting. I'm interested! Send me a note at fullsendfern@gmail.com . I'll add people's answers to this page, for folks who are curious about how they can help in a non-monetary way.

Thank you for giving what you can and for supporting my run. 

Have a fabulous day!