Inspired by Refinery29’s Money Diaries and The Cut’s Sex Diaries, welcome to The Runner Diaries, where we’re sharing a behind-the-scenes look into a week of training with runners of varying ages, paces and GPS coordinates.

This week, we have 36-year-old Marnie Kunz — a run coach, social media marketer/consultant, and founder of Runstreet, a running and event company based in New York City. Below, Kunz documents her days that pack in all of the responsibilities of running a business, training clients and leading group runs throughout the city.

THE RUNDOWN:

Name: Marnie Kunz
Location: New York, NY
Age: 36
Training For: North Face Endurance Challenge at Bear Mountain — easing back into speed work, always working on strength!
Occupation: Founder of Runstreet street art runs, running coach
Goal race? To lower my mile time to below 6 minutes.
Following a training plan? No
Part of any running communities, clubs or training programs? Team Runstreet, Run4AllWomen, ConBody, Milk $$ Run Club
How long you’ve been ‘a runner:’ Over 20 years — since I first joined my school’s cross country team looking for a sport with no tryouts. I began running in the days of clunky, not cool running shoes, baggy t-shirts and pants with elastic on the bottom! hahaha
Goal weekly mileage: To enjoy 😉

RUNNER’S STATEMENT:

Much of my week consists of event planning and social media for my company Runstreet, which offers street art running tours and events in NYC and other U.S. cities. I usually lead one big art run a week as well as private ones. The art runs move at a 10-minute mile pace on average — very relaxed — with stops for photos. I also train clients and manage social media for other fitness brands. My schedule is often so packed that I work from the moment I wake up, to the time I go to sleep, with my stress relief/me time and social time centering on my runs and strength training. So at this stage in my life, I run for work and also run for fun and personal fulfillment.

I enjoy mixing up my routine to keep things interesting, and continue to work on strength training. Since I work so much and lead art runs most weekends, I don’t race as often as I used to, but I do enjoy doing speed workouts for the thrill and challenge. When it comes down to it, I enjoy working out and running for the adventures and adrenaline rush. When I set goals, I like to set functional training goals like being able to do 10 pull-ups or being able to run a mile in under 6 minutes. I try to enjoy the chase in the pursuit of these goals as well as spread the joy of running to others through my art runs. Continue reading “The Runner Diaries — Marnie Kunz” →