Running with Soul with Monique Thomas

Monique is one of the most lovable and joyful souls that you will ever meet on the pavement. Her support and footprint on the run community stretches miles around the run family and if you've ever met her you would love her joyful personality. Monique is her name but we know her as Marathon Moe and she's full of soul. Personally, I feel like we've waited too long to spotlight her but we're finally glad to chat with her and spotlight her run journey.

MSM: Part of me feels like this took too long and we should’ve spotlighted you in this publication a while ago. We are extremely excited to simply talk and get to know you a bit more outside of running. That being said MARATHON MOE. Let’s introduce the world to one of the most awesome people a person can meet. 

MOE: Thank you so much for the kind words!! I'm Monique, folks call me Moe. I'm a native New Yorker from South Jamaica, Queens. I've lived in the Bronx since 2015. I'm a Veteran of the United States Navy and I've been running since 2016.

MSM: So, we like to pace ourselves with these articles as if we were running some leisurely miles together, so we’ll pace ourselves through this article. When did your run journey begin?

MOE: I'm coming to the world of running from the world of dance. Running for me started with a conversation with my massage therapist. He told me he was beginning to run, and he was starting to like it. When I stopped dancing, I was looking quite round. After we spoke about running, I looked at my round ass in the mirror after I got home from the session and said, "If he can run, why can't I?" I looked up NY running, found NYRR Open Runs, and saw that they had community sessions in various parks throughout the city. Since the Crotona Park location was closest to me, I was going every week. As I went, I was getting pretty good at it. Then, Alnisa McConico convinced me to try a race because she thought I was ready. I thought she was NUTS!! I agreed because she was not taking NO for an answer. So, she went with me to do the Midnight Run in Central Park on New Year's Eve in 2016. It was an amazing experience!! The rest is history.