Alex Adams Runs for Lung Health

Respiratory Health Association is Fleet Feet’s Charity of the Month for October. Stop in at your local store to support lung health and clean air!

Alex Adams likes to go fast.

Growing up, she was a high energy kid, participating in many sports. She enjoyed anything that got her running and moving around.

That’s why deciding to run the 2025 Bank of America Chicago Marathon brought a different challenge for the Northwestern University student: she had to learn to slow down.

“Training for a marathon requires a patience that I don’t naturally have. I have to learn the pacing and not push myself too soon. I had to learn to hold back. It’s been a fun challenge to be a beginner again in a sport I used to compete in,” she said.

“This is my first marathon. When I did track back in high school, I was a sprinter. So even though I’d had a history of running previously it’s been a little bit different coming back to it as an adult, and also, a much farther distance. That’s a different kind of running,” she recalls.

Adams likes to do things quickly. In order to calm her energy down and train with less intensity, she is following the Fleet Feet Training x CES: Summer Marathon Training Program. For example, on a 40-minute run, runners should aim for a Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) of 3 or 4, rather than trying to run at full speed.

When she started looking for a charity spot to enter the Chicago Marathon, RHA’s Lung Power Team stood out to her because both of her siblings have severe asthma.

“My brother is very close in age to me, and we’re pretty similar mentality-wise. But he was limited in a lot of what he could do because of his asthma,” she shared.

She notes, “that’s why being a part of Lung Power Team is meaningful to me. This is a way I can give back and help out other kids who might not be able to do the activities that are meaningful to them because they have a lung health condition.”

Adams earned her undergraduate degree in kinesiology from University of Illinois Chicago. While there, she worked with the school’s team as an assistant strength coach. Now her interest has shifted to helping clients rehabilitate after an injury.

Adams works as a personal trainer and is currently in school pursuing a PhD in physical therapy.

During the lead up to the 2024 Chicago Marathon, Adams met many runners during her clinicals at Northwestern. They inspired her to sign up for this year’s race.

“It’s important to me when I meet clients and patients that I understand what they’re training for. That I understand more of the emotional aspects that come with training instead of just following a textbook program because it might look good on paper. I want to connect and talk to these people that I’m working with,” Adams said.

She also thinks about her rehab patients a lot when she is running. Some of them are in various stages of recovery or just managing chronic conditions.

“I think about what a privilege it is that I can use my body in the way that I do, and not everybody can do that. I keep that in mind, that just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing.”

On race day, Adams isn’t looking to achieve a personal best; she just wants to finish strong.

“Training for a marathon teaches you to create consistency more than intensity and finding something that you enjoy.”