Miles of Smiles with Coach Natalie Davis

Natalie Davis is one of the most recognizable faces in the running community. What we love about runners like Natalie is the joy she shows and gives when it comes to running, always smiling, always giving off positive energy and good vibes of just feeling good when it comes to running. I had a chance to meet her last year at our Mid Strike Shakeout run at NYC Marathon and from there I knew we had to spotlight her and her journey in Mid Strike Magazine and it's a pleasure that we have a chance to in this current issue. 

MSM: Hey there, as I mentioned above you were always on our radar as it's just been a matter of when. For our readers let’s get a small intro into Natalie Davis.

Natalie: I had no idea I was on anyone’s radar for anything, you have me blushing. Thanks so much for the kind words and for reaching out to do this interview

MSM: We love to make it seem like we’re on a leisurely jog when it comes to how we base our articles. Our running journeys all begin due to specific reasons. I like to look at it as that first fork in the road at the early part in our lives. What was your reason and what was it that made you choose running?

Natalie: In 2007 I had a trainer that would add in sprint work as a finisher on leg days. I used to get really nervous about that because of my asthma. My father and grandmother both died of an asthma attack, and I would kind of put the brakes on my life being aware of that. One day my trainer pointed out that I never really had breathing issues when working out. I was like ok, you know what, you’re right so how about I push myself in ways that my dad and grandma couldn’t. I was inspired to run for them. That next day I started training for my first race which was the OC Half in 2008. 

MSM: You’re a very consistent runner, give us a little peek into some of your races, some of your favs and some that you look forward to doing in the future.

Natalie: So much is changing for me right now. I used to skip the big city races but, I’ve been getting into that world lately. I really prefer to run for gorgeous views so my favorite race so far would be the McKenzie River Half in Oregon. It was small and so beautiful, it felt like I was running through a Thomas Kinkade painting.