This CEO started running at 45 and now runs multiple races a year

Fortune

Fannie Mae CEO Priscilla Almodovar couldn’t run a mile until she started running at 45 and challenged herself to run her first marathon. Since then, she says she’s found parallels between the sport and her own experience as a business leader.

Transcript

00:00I still remember my first half marathon. I'm like holy cow everyone showed up at five in the morning

00:06and it was New York City at its best and I ran my first half did better than I

00:12had expected and have since then have run three marathons and too many halves to count.

00:18I love running. I discovered running at 45 years old and maybe it's because I like having a goal

00:31or I like having a challenge. I could not run a mile when I first started running. What I love

00:37about running is first of all it's an amazing community. Number two you're competing with

00:42yourself. It's about you setting a goal whether it's a time goal, whether it's finishing a race,

00:48whether it's seeing a new city. So it's all about you and you're sharing with so many others and

00:53what I love about running is it's all ages, all body types. It's young, old coming together for

01:00one thing of running and to me wellness is very important. So running to me has been something that

01:06I'm not a particularly good runner but it's something I feel better after I've after I've

01:12been on a run. It sounds corny but I was it was one of the proudest moments for me when a New York

01:17Road Runners board member asked me to join their board because I've learned how to run at 45 and

01:24there are a lot of elite runners on the board but they thought I was a poster child for running and

01:28how great running could be for health for wellness and just the camaraderie. DC is my new hometown.

01:36I've been at Fannie Mae for a year so I have not run a race in the last year but thanks to the

01:40Fannie Mae employees they told me about the 10 Mile Cherry Blossom Race in April coming up in DC

01:46and I am training for a 10 miler coming this April.

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