Native Women Running – Verna Volker

Mindset to honor the past and change the future

Today’s Guest: Verna Volker

Verna was a second-grade teacher, but now she works full time at the organization she formed called Native Women Running. I met Verna at the Hawk 26.5/50/100 race where I volunteered. In this episode, we talk about the challenges she went through in the Hawk race. There was cold and rain. But she overcame the challenges because she always tries to be prepared for the worst. We talked about how the race brought her good experiences and how she is training her training for the next race. She told us that she likes races where she has a long time limit because otherwise, the pressure to go faster makes you likely to be careless and take a serious fall. She started running as a way to honor her best friend who passed away. But it wasn’t until she and her family moved to Minneapolis that she started running consistenly. She talked about the connection she feels with her deceased family members. She imagines them watching and cheering her on. It helps her to keep going in her races. Finding no representation in the trail running world for native women, she took it upon herself to give them visibility. That is her passion, to inspire native women to run and give them a place to be recognized.

Information:

Verna’s trainer’s tips for her career.
About how Navajos grow up running but Verna’s family is the exception.
Verna’s mentality to keep running, running in honor of other people.
On running mantras and mental and spiritual motivation.
”Slow and steady wins the race”.
Native women who run.

Things we discussed:

Verna’s next race is the Javelena Jundred. She did the 100K last year so she is familiar with the course and the challenges she will face.
She ran in the desert and it was harder than she thought it would be.
The Ultra mentality and the feeling of accomplishment at the end of the races.
What it was like to start running for her, when she ran her first half marathon and her first marathon.
Representation of native women in the running world.
Sponsorships she has available.

Bridge questions:

What is your must-have gear? Her hydration pack.

The strangest thing she’s seen when she’s been running is glowing eyes in the dark that she hasn’t been able to figure out what they are.

The word that describes her life philosophy is Resilience.