Where are you from?

Long Island City, NY (from Chicago, IL)

Current P.R.

3:42:51

Typical pace

8:45 – 9:00 / mi.

Number of marathons

30

Occupation

Senior Consultant at Ernst & Young

Favorite marathon

Queenstown Marathon in New Zealand

Hobbies

Coding, cooking and traveling (I’ve finished marathons in 11 different countries)

Favorite Running Food

Pasta or Korean Barbecue

What are you reading now?

Transit Maps of the World by Mark Ovenden (I have a slight fascination for metro systems)

Who do you train with?

Usually alone but sometimes with my running club (We Are NYC Running Club)

Personal goals

Finish 100 marathons before 35 and sub-4 the 50 US states and 12 Canadian provinces

A quotation you like…

Walk on, with hope in your heart, and you’ll never walk alone

Why do you run?

I started running in 2017 mainly as a form of weight loss. Now, I use it to achieve new goals and explore the world.

Describe your best marathon memory.

In 2018, I was chasing a sub-4 marathon since in three races. I missed my goal at the Berlin Marathon by two seconds and missed it again in Chicago by ten minutes. My first sub-4 would unexpectedly happen at the TCS NYC Marathon with just over a minute to spare. It was a feeling of utter joy and personal achievement to have gone from a 5:33 in my first marathon in 2017 to 3:58 in 2018.

Why do you pace?

I pace mainly to give back to the running community who was welcomed me with open arms. I would like to share my running experience with others and help them reach the excitement and sense of achievement that I reached when I achieved my first major marathon goal.

Tell us your best pacing experience.

I would say that the first one is always the best one. It opens your eyes to a different type of running where it is not about your goals but about helping others achieve theirs. You also start to hear other people’s stories about how they got into running and why it’s a passion for them.

Why should someone run in your pace group?

I like sharing my running experiences with other people. If you want to hear about how it feels to run in the trails of New Zealand, the busy roads of Seoul, the unfamiliar lands of Moscow and the mountainous streets of Madrid, I’m your guy.  

Any tips for runners about to join your group?

The best advice I can give to anyone is to respect the distance. If you follow a pace group, you need beat the urge to overtake the pace early on. I learned that the hard way when I felt good to take down a 3:40 and the pace group ended up catching up to me with four miles to go in the marathon.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Sometimes, you’re going to feel like you don’t want to run. Getting out there to run the miles is half the battle. Your running mentality in training will follow you to your race-day mentality. Also, if you’re interested in following me on Instagram, my handle is @lafuriablanca.

What philanthropic activities do you have?

I run and fundraise for a Chicago-based animal shelter named PAWS Chicago. I ran with them for four years and actually lead our NYC Marathon runners and provide them advice on fundraising, training strategies, and race day experiences.