Don't quit. Give yourself time.

Quitters don't make things happen.

There's people who are persistent.

Persistence is everything.

Hey, hurdlers. Emily Abadi here, bringing you episode 111 of Hurtle.

A wellness, a focused podcast where I sit down with inspiring individuals to talk about everything

from their big wins to how they've gotten through some of life's toughest moments.

On the show, you can expect

vulnerability, motivation, and candid discussions with everyone from top athletes to aspiring

entrepreneurs on what it really takes to follow your passions. My mission is simple. To inspire you

to be your best self, move with intention, and have some fun along the way. Today, I am chatting with

Alephine Talia Mook. She is a professional runner and most recently won the Olympic Marathon

trials in Atlanta with a time of 227.23. I know it's insane, which means that she will be

headed to the now 2021 Olympic Games.

In today's episode, we chat about everything from her upbringing in rural Kenya, where she ran to and from school, as well as just about everywhere else.

And we also talk about her first hearing about the United States and eventually, thanks to some encouragement from her

uncle to pursue an athletic scholarship here, moving here.

She talks to me about the difficult transition arriving in Iowa and Iowa State and not

knowing when she'd see her family again, then transferring to Wichita State where she had

a ton of success in her sport. We talk about her

having a tough time and she debated leaving the sport altogether and what motivated her to create

her Etsy store which sells her now famous Beemies. Of course, she also talks to me all about

...