Maria Solis Belizaire founder of Latinos Run

Mid Strike Magazine is all about highlighting trailblazers in our run community, those that are working hard behind the scenes to create change and open doors to the diverse run communities while bringing light to the issues that we struggle with in our day to day. Trailblazers not only include men but also women and in our women's empowerment we’re making sure to highlight women that are creating change in communities through work, businesses, activism, and positivity. We have the pleasure of chatting it up with Maria Solis Belizaire, founder of Latinos Run an international running organization promoting health and wellness in the run community.

MSM: Welcome to Mid Strike Magazine as we’re excited to have this conversation with you. For our readers, let's get an intro into Maria. 

Maria: My name is Maria Solis Belizaire and I am the founder of Latinos Run & Latinas Run, 2 organizations that promote running as a way to improve the physical and mental health of the Latino community. 

MSM: You’ve been running since you were young. We can choose so many avenues when it comes to fitness yet there’s something of a different feeling when it comes to running. What made running become part of your lifestyle? 

Maria: I became interested in running at a young age. I believe I was in the 1st grade when I remember my teacher always having the students race against each other. I knew at a young age I was fast, so it slowly became a love of mine. I used to say as a child that I wanted to be a runner. I had no idea at that time what that even meant. 

MSM: As we discover running early on it's usually just us and the pavement running alone but at some point, we ‘DISCOVER” the running community. Once that happens so many doors open especially when it comes to running races. What was your first race experience and when did you know that this was a path you wanted to take?