Sun Chasers: Baby, she was born to run

Sun Chasers: Baby, she was born to run

Meet Andrea Scott. Competitive runner practically since birth, Andrea started racing before she could tie her shoes. “I got into running way back in elementary school when I joined the Parkallen cross country team. I lived for racing other people and it didn't hurt that I was fast for my age (I basically still run the same time for a mile),” the legend recalls. 

While running has been a lifetime obsession, it wasn’t until after school that road racing truly entered her life. The tipping point: her first marathon in her hometown Edmonton. Where no surprise here, she absolutely crushed it. To this day, her favorite place to run is, Edmonton River Valley (with my dad as a bike escort). ❤️Daddy Scott. Cue deliberate pause for Canada tourism trivia: Edmonton is a Canadian city in Alberta home to frigid weather (-50F, we’re not kidding), hockey, farming, oil and also the entry point to thousands of lakes and outdoor adventures. We’re making tour guide hand motions, we hope you can feel them.

Andrea has always been up for an adventure and shortly after her first marathon she packed up her life and made the dramatic move to New York City. There, running became more than just a sport for Andrea, it turned out to be the perfect way to find her people anywhere she went. “I moved to NYC in 2015, I started running to make friends and now it feels like every new friend I have made since then is a runner,” Scott reflects. 

Just scrolling through Andrea’s Strava you’ll notice her runs tend to take place in the most epic landmarks in the world, casually touting a smile so perfect we wonder why 2km in we look like swamp creatures and 42km in she looks like she just walked off a Hollywood set. “I traveled to 65 countries before my 30th birthday and one day will make it to all of them. Running races in foreign places is the perfect excuse to go and meeting runners in other countries is my ideal cultural experience”.

Andrea, who now calls Seattle home, logs many hours running outdoors and noted, “My Canadian skin can't handle the sun so basically I have burnt myself more times than I can count.” Andrea vowed to start bringing sunscreen along with her on runs to avoid those awkward burns and split short tan-lines. Andrea’s sunscreen hot tip for road runners, “It's like Physical Therapy. You can get away without doing it for a little while, but if you skip it too much, it always ends poorly.” 

 

(All photos credit of Andrea Scott instagram @andreainalberta and David Jaewon Oh @thisisdizzle)

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Lani + Kai Sun Chasers is a series on inspirationals who live their lives outside.


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