9 Miles With Emma Kertesz
Elite runner, educator, and author!
Emma Kertesz is an elite runner, educator, and recent Bayshore Marathon winner. She authored the book “The Boy Behind the Door”, which tells the story of her father’s life as an adopted Navajo Native American and is available on Amazon. You can find Emma bopping around the track and training with her team The Track Club in Boulder, affectionately known as the "ice cream cone team."
Tell us a bit about your running history. How’d you get into running and what has made you stick with it?
Like most elite female runners, I started my running career by playing soccer. I joined my first organized soccer team when I was 5, and continued to play until I was 17. I ran track in high school to stay in shape for soccer, but the track coach was also the cross country coach. He really encouraged me to run cross country my senior year to boost my prospects of getting a track and cross country scholarship for college. So my senior year (of high school) I ran my first season of cross country. I excelled and ended up receiving a scholarship to the University of Toledo to run cross country and track. I really stuck with it because I loved the team aspect of cross country. It felt a lot like soccer, but instead of each person playing their own individual part, in cross country you line up together to cover the same distance, and that’s a camaraderie that I hadn’t felt playing any other sport. And I loved the simplicity of it - a true foot race!
You qualified for the US Olympic Marathon Trials in 2016 and 2020 but ultimately made the decision not to go for the new standard to qualify for the 2024 trials. You shared on social media that you were feeling a bit burnt out and weren’t sure of your “why”. How did you make the decision to step away from competing at such a high level for a bit?
I did qualify for the 2016 and 2020 US Marathon Trials! I had such great experiences, so it felt like the linear progression was that I would qualify for the 2024 Marathon Trials. Once the new standard of 2:37:00 was announced, I was excited, nervous, and a bit anxious about the training that I would need to take on to achieve a large PB to qualify. I set in motion preparations with my coach (Evan Schwartz) to qualify for the 2024 Trials, but when push came to shove the motivation was not there. Reflecting back, I don’t know if it was a mixture of being nervous to tackle such a lofty goal, and also recognizing that I really wasn’t enjoying running. I knew to hit such a lofty goal that I would need to be “all in” and I just wasn’t emotionally there. I made the decision (and it was made for me by not hitting the 2:37:00 standard) that I would not be lining up on the start line in Orlando. After many conversations with Evan, we decided that taking a break was in my best interest, and I could focus on other aspects of my life; my career, spending more time with my husband and dogs (training takes up a lot of time!) and making my way through my Good Reads list.
Obviously that down time paid off! Congrats on winning the Bayshore Marathon and setting a new marathon PR in May! How did time away from high-level running allow you to come back stronger?
Thank you! I really started to miss running. I hadn’t taken a self-imposed break from running outside of an injury in about ~10 years. I had gotten into a pretty rote routine of training, and somewhat got lost in what that actually meant for me. Did I enjoy it or was I just good at it? Was it something that brought joy into my life or was this simply how I’ve been living for many years? The downtime allowed me to really reevaluate why I was running and what my running career could look like in my early to mid 30s. The downtime allowed me to reframe what running means to me now as a 34 year old: I want to be competitive, hang out with my friends (my TTC teammates), and see how fit I can get with the body I am currently in. It actually felt very freeing to reframe my running as just that - mine. I can create my own narrative with my running career.
Coming off of that win in Bayshore, what does your running look like right now? Do you feel any pressure or are you able to have fun with it again?
I’m still having fun! After a big PB such as I had at Bayshore, the typical question is if I’m going to run a fall marathon - but I’m not! I’d really like to lower some of my shorter distance PBs, and then run a marathon possibly in the fall of 2025 or when the 2028 Olympic Trials window opens. It feels really exciting to do some shorter distance training and try to lower some pretty old PBs and know that doing that will set me up to be stronger for my next marathon.
You work in education. I know firsthand how taxing a profession it is both physically (running around with littles is not easy!) and mentally. What do you do to balance training with your career?
Well, it’s pretty compartmentalized to be honest. I do all my runs in singles, and I typically run starting around 5:30-5:45 in the morning before work. I have a small group within The Track Club (TTC) that also has to go pretty early, so we meet up and in the winter we are “The Headlamp Gang” and in the summer it’s “The Dawn Patrol.” I truly reserve my mornings before work to focus on running, especially workouts. I try to stay on top of hydration and nutrition at work, and although I am usually pretty tired after workouts at work, I do have an extra cup of coffee (ha!) in the afternoons to get through meetings. I’m in administration now, so I’m not necessarily working with kids daily, but being more of a “jack of all trades.” I really enjoy my career, so I feel pretty lucky that I get to balance running and a career I enjoy. I think Evan actually described my Bayshore marathon build as “monk-like” because I really was waking up, running 14-15 miles in the morning, working all day, coming home and eating dinner, reading a bit, and going to bed. Obviously I don’t live my life like that year round, but for a ~12 week segment I feel really good about being in a routine like that to try to achieve my goals so I can line up for my “A” race knowing I did everything I could in the controllable section of my life.
Boulder, Colorado is quite a hub for elite distance running. Do you ever struggle with comparison living there? If so, how do you manage that? If not, how do you think you’ve been able to avoid it?
It really is! We joke a lot about Boulder vs. Flagstaff in terms of elite distance hubs. When I first moved to Boulder about 7 and a half years ago, it was eye opening to really see how many fit athletes were here. I think moving here at 26 years old helped a lot, because I had been in the elite circuit for a few years by that point. I think if I had moved here right out of college I would have been playing the comparison game a lot more. But I really try to think about being inspired by so many fast and fit women here in Boulder, many of whom are on my own team! I believe it was Emily Infeld who said a few years ago, “why not me?” So I really try to view my teammates and friends in that light - inspired, and feeling like I can also achieve my own big goals while cheering them on.
I really try to think about being inspired by so many fast and fit women here in Boulder, many of whom are on my own team!
Have you ever experienced REDS, disordered eating, or had an eating disorder?
I have been incredibly fortunate to not have experienced RED-S, or an eating disorder. I have worked with sports dietitians in the past, and for my Bayshore Marathon build I worked with Caila Yates of Steady State Nutrition to really dial in my fueling to be able to hit the workouts and mileage I was doing. I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by athletes who take fueling seriously, but also leave plenty of room for foods that bring joy, and have had coaches who have consistently repeated to me, “if the fire is hot enough anything will burn.” I also grew up in the Midwest so a steady diet of butter, and carb heavy meals are pretty par for the course, so paired with that and knowledge I’ve gained from working with sports dietitians, I’m hoping to continue to have a long and healthy career.
What’s the most important thing you believe young female athletes need to hear?
Have fun! Running should add joy and value to your life, not be such a burden that it’s taking away important moments and joy.
What is your proudest running moment?
It’s not a specific race, but I’m very proud of how I’ve been able to find joy in the process again. I love going to practice, and running is one of the favorite parts of my day. I’m so glad I am surrounded by such supportive people that gave me the time and space to find my “why” again.
You can find Emma on Strava at Emma K., and on Instagram @emkertesz. You can buy Emma’s book on Amazon!
August Writing Prompt
If I could say thank you…
If you could personally thank the athlete who you look(ed) up to the most, what would you say? What do they mean to you and why did they make such an impact? Maybe they’re a professional athlete, but maybe it’s a coach, a teammate, or a hometown hero. Someone’s made an impact and we’ve love to hear about it! Leave or comment or share your thoughts here.
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