Runner Hopes Humor Can Elevate Her Performance
DENVER (CBS4)- One Colorado woman has decided to go all in to become one of the best runners in the world. Brittany Charboneau hopes a sense of humor can get her all the way to the Olympics.
Thursday's run at Sloan's Lake Park is a typical, easy run for native Coloradan Charboneau, but it's a stark difference from her last race less than one month ago. She ran in the elite wave of the TCS New York City Marathon.
She started off conservatively but she said, "And then I was in the front and I remember thinking, did I miss a turn?"
She didn't. She actually led the race for four miles. For her it was like a dream come true.
"You idolize and watch all of these amazing runners and then getting the chance to not only run with them but lead the pack for a couple miles was huge."
She calls herself the funny runner, because her other job is comedy. A few years ago, she was living and working in Chicago. She decided to study at Second City as a way to jump-start her acting career. When she and her husband moved back to Colorado, she decided to quit her nine to five to focus all of her time on running and comedy.
"I was just not happy in my regular job and I knew that there was something else that I needed to be doing."
She says her two passions go hand in hand, "It's kind of a great balance you know, I've got the structure and then the just play."
Her method of laughing while running seems to be working. She won the 2017 Colfax Marathon, placed seventeenth in New York and qualified for the Olympic trials. She has also written a comedy show she performed on stage in Denver and Chicago.
"I'm hopefully taking my show on tour this year."
On top of all of that, she is also trying to qualify for the Olympics in 2020. It is a lofty goal, but as long as she has her sense of humor, Brittany knows she can get there.
"I'm improving it. I improving this running career."
Michael Abeyta is a 4th generation Coloradan and a Multimedia Journalist for CBS4. His stories can be seen on CBS4 News at 5 & 6. He is on Twitter! Follow him @AbeytaCBS4.