Meet Club Member: Tonisia Billups

My Name is Tonisia AKA Toni 🙂 (HF10011, MM12110, DA1998) – After years of being a sedentary taxi mom, I began to refocus on my personal FITness, mentally, and physically after becoming an empty nester in 2012. Slightly overweight and out of shape, I began to run early mornings after being introduced to a local BGR! run group by another track mom, who has since become my mentor and friend! If it wasn’t for her invitation to meet up, I’m not quite sure what my FITness journey would look like today! So I am and will always be eternally grateful to her!
In the beginning, I couldn’t run light pole to light pole without being totally out of breath! I remember thinking, who the hell does this!? As a sprinter, you emptied that tank for 100M/200M and then you recovered! And OCCASIONALLY you may run a 400M, which was like death! Lol 😆 So distance running was SO FOREIGN to me and to be running again in my late 30s seemed to be ridiculous… The competitive spirit in me though watched morning after morning, as those ladies would seem to run for miles without stopping. So I kept showing up, until I was able to keep up! 🙂
After pushing to run my 1st 5K that November (2012), I realized how much of a challenge this distance running thing was. But the challenger in me wasn’t intimidated nor afraid! That experience led to my 1st 15K that following March (2013), which led to my 1st Half Marathon in April (2013)! Then once I realized I COULD run the distance, for me it became all about the pace! Setting goal after goal, I began to chase that next PR and the ultimate Sub 2 Half Marathon by November (2013)!

To date I have completed numerous 5Ks, 10Ks, 15Ks, Half and Full Marathons. I’ve also completed a 200mile RAGNAR relay both in the Florida Keys and then again in Hawaii on my 40th Birthday (2016).. Yes!!! I designed and ran my own “40 to 40 Challenge”, completing 40 races the year I turned 40, with RAGNAR HAWAII being my 40th race ACTUALLY ran ON MY 40th Birthday! It really couldn’t get ANY better than that, RIGHT!? And to run the anchor leg made it even MORE SPECIAL, as all of my team AND traveling friends helped to run me to the finish singing happy birthday! #PRICELESS
But my most recent accomplishments include becoming an official Seven Continent (Marathon) Finisher (March 2024) and Six Star Abbott World Majors Marathon finisher (April 2024)! Always asked which race was the best, I’m not sure I have a “BEST”, but I think Zimbabwe (Africa) and White Continent (Antarctica) were probably tied for the most adventurous, as you could imagine!

As for running clubs, I became a Half Fanatic in Dec 2014 (qualified in 2013). I then became both a Marathon Maniac and Double Agent in Dec 2015 after completing 2 Full Marathons within 6 days of each other, the same year I had just ran my very 1st Full Marathon! I can truly say, my running adventures really took off from there.. So meet HF #10011, MM #12110, DA #1998 🙂
The reality, for me at least, is that running hurts! During the run, I often question WHY I’m running, BUT I never question WHY I RAN at the end! So I guess you can say, I RUN TO FINISH! Finish lines bring such a high level of accomplishment and gratification. Especially in such a crazy world and time as today, I’m reminded that it’s the one thing I can CONTROL and CONQUER.
Now, in my quest to run all 50 States (27 remain), I recently resumed running after a confirmed labrum tear in my hip last year (Nov 2024)! Talk about taking a MAJOR mental and physical hit, this really forced me to change my goals. Running is no longer “all about the pace” for me. I’m learning to accept my NEW normal of slow and steady in an effort to remain moving forward on the tear! So, after being sidelined for several months with PT, I recently returned to the scene of the crime, completing my 1st Half in over a year at “The Race”, which BTW is the race thought to be what ultimately caused the labral hip tear (or revealed it), a year ago. I’ve since completed both the Detroit Free Press International Half and AZ48th Half this past weekend in Chandler/Phoenix, Arizona. Follow me to 50!

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