Italian by birth, New Yorker by adoption, Martina moved from Rome to New York in the fall of 2006.
She started running at the begining of 2013 and joined the Dashing Whippets around that same time.
Obsessed with numbers, she is an accounting manager for an Italian real estate firm.

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I joined the Dashing Whippets in March 2013 while training for my first race ever, the Spring Fling 5K on Roosevelt Island. I remember my first run with the Whippets like it was yesterday: there were not that many people, probably 15, and they were all part of the “fast crew.” That day, we did hill repeats. Living on Roosevelt Island at the time (pancake flat!) and being new to running, that workout destroyed me. May Ling, bless her heart, stayed by my side while I was desperately trying to make it to the top of Cat Hill. I despised every second of that evening and my legs hated me for days afterward. However, don’t ask me why, I decided to run with the group again the Tuesday after, and then the Tuesday after that. I would end up running by myself most of the times, but just having somebody yelling “great work” at me in between repeats was enough for me. I started going to the track on Thursdays and joining the group long runs on Saturday.
Not even two months after, I decided to run my first half marathon (say whaaat!), the Brooklyn Half. Clueless about how to race properly, I started off way too fast and hit the wall hard at mile 9. I was this close to call it quits when I suddenly heard Scott & co yelling my name. That gave it enough strength to make it to the finish line in 2:03:23. So what do you do after you just suffered through 13.1 miles? You think it is time for you to run your first marathon.

Running the New York City Marathon has been a dream of mine since November 2009. That year, I volunteered as an interpreter at the post-finish line of the marathon. I wasn’t a runner back then (not even close!) and I had no idea about how long a marathon was, but after seeing the incredible joy and pride on the face of these runners I promised to myself that I, too, had to run THAT marathon one day. I realized my dream on November 3, 2013, when I crossed the finish line of the New York City Marathon in 4:00:02.

I wanted to feel proud and happy about my accomplishment but, instead, I was SO mad! My goal was to run a sub-4 marathon and I just missed that by 3 seconds… Really, who does that?!? Disappointment aside, that day I fell in love with the marathon distance. The marathon is a beast and training for it requires a huge amount of time and dedication. However, I love everything about the process and I believe it is the distance I am best at. I am not a “fast” runner and I despise speed work. However, probably thanks to my swimming background, I can count on my endurance, so that definitely helps when it comes to the marathon.
In between two stress fractures and a hip flexor strain, I was able to complete two other marathons: the New York City Marathon 2014 (aka my revenge marathon) and the New Jersey Marathon 2015, where I qualified for Boston 2016.