Always on the run and loving it

Amanda Horelick is training to run in the New York City Marathon, a longtime dream of hers, while raising an 8-month-old daughter and juggling multiple jobs, one of which regularly takes her across the country.

She admits she has always struggled with sitting still.

“I’ve always been super ambitious and type A,” Horelick says. “And I put my head down and get it done.”

In college, that determination resulted in dual degrees. Attending the University of Idaho, the Kalispell native and Flathead High School graduate studied flute performance and microbiology. She later got her master’s in the latter field.

“I did them pretty much simultaneously,” she recalls. “The course load was pretty ridiculous sometimes.”

The level of competition and dedication required by the flute appealed to Horelick, who remembers spending seven or eight hour stretches in the practice room. They were always angling for the first chair, she says.

Horelick — who also plays the oboe — expected to perform the flute professionally after finishing her academics, but had taken a job on a wildland fire crew while in school. Adrenaline, it turns out, was just as appealing.

“It’s kind of like a cult,” she says, chuckling. “Once you get into the fire world, you can’t leave.”

So the trained flutist ended up working for various fire agencies and later becoming an emergency medical technician. Nowadays, she works at Vitalogy EMS and as a paramedic for Logan Health EMS. She also teaches paramedic programs for the National Medical Education and Training Center, which takes her regularly from Kalispell to its West Bridgewater, Massachusetts location, where she conducts on-the-ground training.

Along the way, she fell in love with running.

“The honest answer is I spent most of my life as the fat kid in school,” Horelick says of her entry into marathoning. “I discovered the outdoors one day and started running.”

She ran a half marathon in 2012 and completed her first full marathon in Missoula the following June. A friend helped coach her, the two developing a training plan together, and she quickly found an additional reason for tying on running shoes.

“It’s kind of my therapy,” she says. “It’s where I can go to block out all the noise in my life.”

There’s also the bling, she admits.

“And I like the shining medals,” Horelick says with a grin.

She runs about three or four marathons a year with a few 50- and 100-milers thrown in on the side. There was a period where she ran a marathon about once a month, but that pace slowed a bit after the birth of her daughter.

Still, with the New York City Marathon fast approaching, she’s racking up miles with her daughter in tow.

“She has run more miles in that stroller than most adults in their life,” Horelick says.

Horelick has long eyed the New York City Marathon. Earning a spot in this November’s rendition marks the end of a nine-year wait for her.

There are three ways to get into the celebrated race: qualifying by time (“I’m not fast enough,” Horelick says), via lottery or applying to run with a charity. Horelick got a spot in the race via the nonprofit Tunnel to Towers, which aids the families of fallen first responders and military personnel.

Founded in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the charity has strong roots on the east coast, Horelick says. She hopes her work with the nonprofit will help increase its visibility in the West.

As part of the partnership that landed her a spot in the New York City Marathon, Horelick is busy raising $5,000 for the group. Those interested in donating can check out her fundraising page at: https://dogood.t2t.org/fundraiser/4602065.

And the New York City Marathon is just one foot race in a busy autumn for Horelick. In October, she will run in Polebridge’s Le Grizz, a 50-miler. A few weeks after running in New York City, Horelick plans on pounding the ground on the opposite coast, participating in the Seattle Marathon with family.

After that, she’s looking at a few months of rest and relaxation. But there’s always the next thing and Horelick is already planning on a race in Iceland, her first overseas, when summer rolls back around.

“They have all these really amazing 100-, 200-milers, you can run all of Iceland and it’s phenomenal,” she says.

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.

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