COLUMBUS, Ohio — Lisa Davis is using running as a way to get through the stress of the past year.

What You Need To Know

  • Lisa Davis has always loved running, but over the last year, she has used it as a way to get through the pandemic

  • Davis not only had to balance work and helping her kids through virtual schooling, she also had to learn how to be a newly-single mom due to a recent divorce

  • Davis is now training for a marathon, her first since 2018 and before her divorce

  • She hopes to qualify and run in the Boston marathon

​​Not only has Davis had to deal with the pandemic, but she also had to quickly learn how to be a single mom of two due to a recent divorce. Between parenting, virtual schooling and trying to get her own work done, it's been stressful.

But what calms her during the storm is getting outside for a run.

“For me, running has always been a mental release," Davis said. "So, really anytime I’m stressed or in a bad mood, all I really have to do is go for a run, and I’m like a different person when I’m finished.”

So, five times a week, Davis laces up her sneakers and hits the pavement.

“It just makes you a happier person to be around,” she said.

Davis said running also helps clear her mind.

“Just being stuck inside and away from people the past year is difficult for all of us," Davis said. "The running just kind of helped me get those endorphins.”

And now she’s running for a new goal: Finally run a marathon again.

“Last one I did was in 2018, and then that’s when the divorce and stuff happened, so I just didn’t run any races," she said. "So I just wanna do one.”

And that race is happening in April in Indiana — a marathon that’s been a long time coming for Davis.

“It will be fun and exciting and what we’ve all been waiting to do for like a year and a half now," she said.

And while Davis isn’t particularly competitive, she’s hopeful that this time, she’ll qualify for the big one: The Boston Marathon.

“So I’d like to do that," she said. "I wanna get to Boston.”