RUN RIGHT PAST IMPOSTOR SYNDROME

GROWING UP, I played basketball, softball, and lacrosse, even dabbled in fencing, but always stayed away from running. Other kids were faster than me, so I left running to them. When I moved to New York in my early 30s, I discovered the joy of a 5K, and started to lace up regularly.

- Aly Ellis

A decade later, I'm still at it. By now I've run nearly 100 races, including five marathons. I work as an editor at the world's best running magazine, and I cohost The Amazing Runner's World Show with Runnerin-Chief Jeff Dengate. Yet some days I still feel like a fraud.

As I look around my office, filled with runners who are faster than me, it's hard not to compare myself with them. Some of my coworkers have been running since grade school. Some ran on college teams. Several have won races! And then, there's me.

I'm a back-of-the-pack runner.

Party-pace runner, whose normal cruising speed is around 13 minutes per mile. My goal is to get faster, but I doubt I'll ever make it to a winner's podium.