We’re kicking off our Run for Today series today with one super mom who started running as an outlet while her premature daughter was in the NICU, and hasn’t stopped running since.
Born at just 33 weeks weighing only 3 ½ pounds, Savannah Plummer had to spend weeks in an incubator before she was healthy enough to go home. During her daughters time in the NICU Gillian Plummer found comfort in the March of Dimes.
"When you have a preemie, you don’t know if they’re going to make it, you don’t know what the situation will be like," said Gillian Plummer. "When you have these organizations and people to talk to and other mothers who have been through the same thing or even worse it is the most amazing thing in the world."
Through that support system, Gillian heard about the Run for Babies. The fact that she had just had an emergency C-section and had never run before didn’t scare her.
“A couple weeks later when I felt better, I learned about the run and I started running and I started training I realized gosh this is amazing,” said Gillian. “I feel great, it’s helping me, it’s helping me get through this hard time and the rest is history.”
And from there, Gillian went on to participate in the Run for Babies just a few weeks later.
"The support that I got through the organization I wanted to give back. So I raised money, I did the run, and I just bawled my eyes out when I crossed the finish line and it was amazing," Gillian explained.
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The comfort and inspiration Gillian found in running has helped more than just herself.
Gillian's husband, Geoff Plummer, said, “She’s a really motivated person in general and this just turned it to a whole other level when she started running more and I could see she was running for our daughter and for our family which was pretty motivating.”
Two years later and Gillian is running eight marathons and two half marathons each year.
"Every single race that I run I dedicate to my daughter and all the premies out there," Gillian said.
The March of Dimes Run for Babies is devoted to doing just that and it doesn’t matter if you’re a marathon runner or have never run a 5k.
"Everyone’s cheering you on on the sidelines and once you get there you get this super adrenaline rush and you’re like im going to do this and I’m going to do a really good job."
We want to see you there on May 1st so join the NBC Connecticut team and #RunforTODAY