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This year Chelsea Sutton is not letting diabetes or her busy schedule as a new mother stop her from training and working toward her goal of crushing 13.1 miles at the UPMC Health Plan Pittsburgh Half Marathon. Since becoming a mom, she’s even more motivated to be a role model and show her daughter the importance of overcoming challenges. 

Though Chelsea loves running now, that wasn’t always the case. Growing up, she preferred playing sports, like softball, basketball and volleyball. 

“To be honest, I hated running in my childhood because it was always for punishment. One day during my volleyball pre-season in college, we had to run around 4 miles back to campus after our physicals. I remember how extremely sore I was in all the right ways….well that still made me hate running,” Chelsea said.

But that changed in 2015 when she realized that she needed a change. 

“I’ve always struggled with body positivity since I can remember, as most women do these days. Back in 2015 there was one day at the end of January where I said, ‘I’ve had this.’ I was tired of feeling down on myself, tired of staring in the mirror and seeing someone that could do better mentally, as well as physically.”

She went to the gym the next day and had one of the best workouts of her life. From that day forward, she learned to love MOVING and prioritizing her health. She started running and weight training six days a week, focused on eating healthy and paid attention to her mental health. 

“I found ME. Running became a love of mine and from then I’ve never looked back,” Chelsea said. “All those years of self-doubt, hearing words from others like ‘you’ll never amount to anything,’ and all the challenging obstacles of a young adult finally started to disappear with each step and mile. Running makes me feel confident. It’s my safe space away from the real world.”

Chelsea continued running and building mileage and ran her first half-marathon in 2017. She was hooked. When Chelsea was training for third half-marathon in 2019, she felt something was off and was experiencing painful exhaustion and brain fog and feeling like a ton of bricks during runs. 

“The half marathon that year was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. I cried most of the way through it. I had to stop from time-to-time because I felt like my brain was going to implode from pressure. I finished but not under the two hour goal that I had.” 

A few weeks later after a couple doctor visits, she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Physical activity has been tricky for her, and she’s had to learn to adapt to the highs and lows of her medical condition. She’s kept running and ran the UPMC Health Plan Pittsburgh Half Marathon virtually in 2020 with assistance and snacks nearby in case her blood sugar dropped. 

After getting married in 2021 and giving birth to her daughter Mylah last May, Chelsea is ready to once again conquer 13.1 miles at the UPMC Health Plan Pittsburgh Half Marathon on May 7.

“The UPMC Health Plan Pittsburgh Half Marathon will be very challenging for me both physically and mentally,” Chelsea said. “I’m not the spring chicken I once was. Between working full time, taking care of Mylah and being a wife, I don’t get very much time to run like I used to. I’m not in the best shape like I was, but that’s not stopping me. My goal this year is to finish and have FUN the whole ride. This year I’m proving to myself that I can still do it despite diabetes and being a new mom.”

Her daughter Mylah inspires her to overcome her challenges and continue her running journey. She wants to be a positive example to her. 

“I want her to see that self-doubt has no place in your mind because she can do anything she puts her heart into,” Chelsea said. “I want her to see that medical challenges don’t stop you; you just have to be prepared. I want her to see me as not only her mom, but her hero, her best friend, and role model. I hope she loves volleyball growing up like me, and I hope she loves to run so we can do that together, but most of all, I hope she loves herself and finds her own favorite thing to love like how running was for me.”