Lori

"I think I started running after my third year of University. I used to swim fairly competitively and at some point I just wanted a break. That summer I decided I wanted to do a local race and it was like $5 more to do a marathon. So I signed up for the marathon and just got hooked.

I have run 10 or 11 marathons on my own.  My favorites were my two hometown ones. I did Toronto last year, which was like the 10th anniversary of my first race, so that was really cool. And then I ran in Hong Kong, which is where my parents are from. That race allowed me to see a lot of different parts of Hong Kong that like we don't normally go to. 

I really love the running community. There are so many different running groups that you can join. Every one has got a little bit of a different vibe, but you can definitely find a great community of people. It's also a nice meditative thing to do. When I’m running I think about everything and nothing at the same time.  It’s a nice way to chill out for me. My social circle involves mostly runners. So if somebody wants to do a race I am pretty easily convinced. I usually kick in for any sort of adventure. 

I also run as a guide with Achilles. One of my friends from my hometown, Toronto, has been running with an athlete who's vision impaired for quite a while. He told me about Achilles, which is an international organization. I moved around a fair bit for work over the years. So every time I was in the new city, I figured it'd be a good opportunity to meet some people involved in the running community there. 

Achilles has provided me with some pretty awesome opportunities. I guided in the Boston Marathon and the New York City Marathon. The guides get just as much out of it as the athletes do though we experience it in a different way. You can really stress about a big race when it's for yourself. But when you're focused on looking for different ways to motivate your runner throughout the race you care less about your own running.  It's their race.  I am guiding a runner for Boston this year and so I am going out to do a bunch of long runs beforehand with him. He is trying to do his weekly mileage on his own and then we'll try to meet up as often as possible.

I work as a contractor for Vertex Pharmaceuticals. I've lived in Boston for like four years now. It’s a great city. I feel like there's a lot to do. When not running I like going to concerts. Since it’s a university town, you got a wide variety of people coming in and tickets are always cheap.

I came to the Bionic5k with Achilles. Usually when we do a race each of the guides will partner up with an athlete.  That day everybody already had a partner so our fearless leader suggested that I just run it for myself. So I went for it. I thought the 5k was incredibly well organized. And it was pretty cool that MIT or Harvard were showing off a bionic exoskeleton and other things like that. It tied nicely with the theme of the race.  

My favorite band is a punk band from Toronto called Pup. The best songs are 'Reservoir' or 'Sleep in the Heat.' 'Sleep in the Heat' has a lot of singable moments that are easy to run along to."

- Lori, Bionic5K athlete