Meet Club Member: Tina from Alaska

Tina “Luvs-Torun” Lam (HF16109, MM15672, DA3665) from Anchorage, AK
I was never a runner. I remember running in 5th grade and in junior high, doing a few cross country races, but I finished in last place. Running was not fun. A college friend was running the 50 states, which I thought was crazy and another friend started to train for her first marathon. I started running to lose weight. In 2008, I ran my first half marathon, the Mayor’s half; my 2nd half marathon, Anchorage Runfest Half (previously Skinny Raven half is my PR for a half marathon (2:17:53); and ran my first full marathon, the Honolulu Marathon. I was very proud to finish the marathon because my friends and family were surprised that anyone would willingly choose to run 26.2 miles/42.2 km. I was training to get faster, but ended up having plantar’s fasciitis in 2010 and did not run for a few years because it was too painful. I was still running a couple races a year, but it all changed in 2017. I was in Austin for a conference and saw on the news that they were having the Austin half/full marathon that weekend. I had been training for the Rock n Roll Dallas half marathon, which was the next month. It was the first time that I went to a race expo and registered for a race the next day. After running in Austin, Dallas, and San Francisco, a friend informed me that I qualified to join Half Fanatics from running 3 half marathons in 90 days.
In 2021, I ran the Equinox Marathon and Kenai River Marathon on back to back weekends and finally became a Marathon Maniac. I never thought that would be possible, but I always dreamed of becoming a Double Agent because it sounded cool! Anything is possible as long as you set your mind to do it.
In 2023, I went to the Marathon Maniacs 20th year reunion and ran 3 races in Tacoma City that weekend. Great reunion and met up with more Marathon Maniacs in the running family. Shortly after that reunion, I became the Alaska Ambassador for Marathon Maniacs/Half Fanatics. I am very involved in the local running community. I am in the Anchorage Running Club and volunteer on the Anchorage RunFest race committee doing their social media. I am in the Raven Run Club, volunteer with Team RWB Anchorage as the Athletic Director, on the Gold Nugget Triathlon race committee, and in the 100 Half Marathon Club.
I run to stay active and healthy. Running is a stress reliever. I enjoy going on “runcations”, seeing new places, meeting other runners, and finally decided to combine my love of travel to run in all 50 states, running either a half or full marathon. I have run in 36 states, 86 half marathons, 16 full marathons, and numerous other races, including 5ks, 10ks, my first sprint triathlon in 2018.
One of my runner friends calls me “Miss Alaska.” At races, I introduce myself as, “I am Tina from Alaska.” I am known for taking pictures, taking selfies, dressing up for races, smiling, and having fun at races. Thank you for the opportunity to share my runner’s story. I hope to continue to inspire others to run. I am a runner!

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