The running community will always produce stories of inspiration and motivation. This week we meet two female runners – from two different Saskatchewan communities – who have qualified for the iconic Boston Marathon while balancing major commitments in life.
Alana Kulyk is a single mom from Saskatoon who sometimes rises at 4:30 a.m. to get training runs done before her daughter wakes up. And Andrea Amiot is a very successful entrepreneur from Moose Jaw who’s being a role model for her two kids.
“I had a really tough divorce,” said Kulyk, “and I didn’t run my first marathon until the fall of 2021. After getting through it to prove to myself I could – I did better than I thought.” From there, someone planted the seed that she could qualify for Boston if she kept training.
Well, on Monday, April 20th, Kulyk will compete in her second consecutive Boston Marathon with the goal about being around 3:35 at the finish. “(Running helps) with everyday life,” continued Kulyk, who works in the banking sector besides being a single mom and marathon runner. “I hope to be a role model to my daughter (Emily) that you can do tough things.”
When asked what her secret is for qualifying for Boston in consecutive years, Kulyk quipped: “Just staying disciplined and consistent.”
Amiot went one step further when answering the same question: “Honestly… just sucking it up on the treadmill,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t do well in the cold, so a lot of my training has been indoors. It’s been trusting that those miles still count. Living in Saskatchewan, you kind of just have to make peace with that.”
Along with her father, Amiot runs Moose Jaw’s popular downtown fashion store Clothes Encounter. Besides the store being open 7 days a week – it only closes on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day – Amiot balances two very active kids and her own running coaching business.
“I’d love to be somewhere under 3:20 with a PB (3:18:13) being a stretch goal,” said Amiot, who ran Boston in 2009 in 3:33. “With my kids, I think it’s just showing them that things can be hard , but you still show up and try. It’s not perfect – I don’t hit every workout – but I’ve been consistent and I think that matters more than anything.”
(Photo: Andrea Amiot on the left; Alana Kulyk on the right)
