Accident can’t slow runner’s ambition
Emily Harmsen lives by this mantra: “You want this.”
Those three words have carried the 24-year-old Phoenix native through some tough times, and they are the biggest reason why she is entered in Sunday’s Rock ’n’ Roll San Antonio marathon.
It’s impressive considering Harmsen is still recovering from a horrific accident that put her in the hospital for a week with head, back and rib injuries and a collapsed lung.
The accident, which occurred exactly a week before Christmas Eve last year, curtailed her plans to run in her first marathon — the Rock ’n’ Roll Phoenix event, which happened in January.
Harmsen is determined to finish her goal of running in a marathon, and that’s why she decided to run in Sunday’s race. Harmsen moved to Austin in February and entered Sunday’s race at the end of the summer. Harmsen chose San Antonio because of the proximity and how her recovery path was improving.
“You want this.” “That’s why I chose it,” Harmsen said of her mantra. “I know that’s a statement that wouldn’t change. It’s something that I want. It’s a goal that I’ve set, and I want to accomplishment it. That’s never changed.”
Harmsen said she is 80 per
cent physically recovered from her injuries. However, she said she has battled depression and PTSD since the accident.
On Dec. 17, 2021, Harmsen was riding a bicycle through a crosswalk when a car struck her. She was taken to a hospital in an ambulance where she had to have her head stapled shut and found out she had five broken ribs and a collapsed lung.
Harmsen was toward the end of a 15-mile bike ride, and the accident occurred a half-mile from her home in Phoenix. She waited for the “Walk” signal before pedaling across the street.
“Next thing I knew, I saw something in my peripheral vision,” Harmsen said. “The car was coming at me way too fast. I tried to break, but it was too late. It hit me.”
At the hospital, she caught COVID and couldn’t have any visitors. Alone in the hospital right before the holidays, Harmsen described her mental status as “a dark place.”
“I knew I couldn’t compete in the marathon, and I was crushed when I had that realization,” Harmsen said. “I was just really depressed. … Physical activity has always been important to me. That’s what I do to make myself feel better.”
Harmsen picked up running shortly after graduating from Arizona State in the spring of 2020. She ran cross country in middle school, but dropped it and competed in soccer, softball and badminton at Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix where she graduated in 2016.
“After I graduated college, I figured I gave my mind a challenge, so I wanted to give my body some kind of challenge and work toward a new goal,” Harmsen said. “Going into it, I set my sights on running a marathon. … I figured it was something I could brag about for a while.”
Harmsen started running during the height of the pandemic. She found it therapeutic to be outside during work-fromhome quarantine periods.
After some early struggles — she initially ran for 30-second periods before walking to catch her breath — Harmsen built enough endurance to compete in two half-marathons: one in Boulder,
Colo., in October 2021 and the other in Joshua Tree in California in November 2021.
The Phoenix marathon was supposed to be next.
When Harmsen was discharged from the hospital, she asked her doctor when she could start running again. She was determined to run a marathon.
“It was kind of silly to think about it in that moment, obviously,” Harmsen said. “But it was in the forefront of my mind.”
After moving to Austin, Harmen began experiencing back and leg pain. X-rays from an initial screening at a chiropractor in July revealed she had had a break in her back. She is getting treatment for that.
“It’s definitely been a long recovery process in the sense that I’m still experiencing pain,” Harmsen said. “I’m trying to get my body back to my preaccident status.”
The pain hasn’t deterred her determination to compete Sunday. She decided to forgo a rampup period and follow a marathon-distance training plan. Her biggest challenge is getting motivated to train. She said she doesn’t enjoy running as much as she used to but wants to compete in the marathon.
“I guess I’m crazy in the sense that I still do it even if I don’t necessarily enjoy it,” Harmsen said. “But that’s part of the process. If you want something, you have to put in the work.”
Harmsen envisions a positive finish Sunday.
“Whatever happens, my takeaway is still going to be that I never gave up,” Harmsen said. “And even though it got challenging for a number of different reasons, I picked myself up, put on my shoes, got out the door and got it done.”