Woman diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis hopes to inspire her kids, family while running NYC Half
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Running a half marathon takes time, dedication and passion for the sport. For many people, they also run for a cause.
Maya Sudhakaran first laced up her sneakers for a long race back in 2008.
At the time, Sudhakaran decided to run the New York City Marathon to honor her father, who had just been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
"Back then as a kid in my 20s, I didn't really know how to honor him, so when the MS Society reached out with a charity bib, I said let's do it," she said. "I just felt so much pride and I used to call my dad and my mom and talk about these things."
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After that first marathon, Sudhakaran couldn't stop. She kept running after her father died, and even after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis herself.
"My dad passed away, two months later I got married, I started business school, and then I got my diagnosis all in 2012. So there was a just lot happening in my life and the one thing I knew I could trust and believe in was my running," Sudhakaran said.
Sudhakaran says it was important for her to keep moving.
In the last two decades, Sudhakaran estimates that she's run 13 full marathons and more than 80 half marathons. Through it all, Sudhakaran credits her family and the running community with keeping her going.
It's a community that's become even stronger since she started running with the New York Road Runners group training.
"Back then I joined a training group and running a marathon is like being able to see the next step in a flight of stairs, you don't need to see the whole story," she said. "It just becomes part of your lifestyle -- I started doing it for my family and then I started doing it for myself."
Running has become such an important part of Sudhakaran's life that she hopes can inspire her own kids, as one of them already seems to have caught the running bug.
"While I'm running the NYC Half, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge for the first time ever which is so exciting, my husband is going to be in Times Square with our two kids and my son will be running the kids race," she said. "As long as I focus on what I can control and keep showing up, everything else is gonna take care of itself."
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