Fitness Friday: Interview with ZOOMA Founder

This fall I will be running the ZOOMA Cape Cod Half Marathon. Touted as one of the "five best races for women" by espnW., ZOOMA Women's Race Series was started by a female runner and the staff are all women.

As a Cape Cod Ambassador, I had the opportunity to ask Founder and Executive Director, Brae Blackley, some questions about the races.

Brae cheering runners at the starting line.

1. When you started ZOOMA in 2007 what was your goal?

I started ZOOMA because I thought it would be fun – both for me and for the women who run ZOOMA races. Really, with the first race, I just wanted to see what would happen. I hoped that first race in Annapolis would succeed, but I had a very steep learning curve and anything could have happened.  I honestly never imagined that ZOOMA would be where it is today – with five events across the U.S., over 30,000 women having run a ZOOMA race, an awesome line-up of sponsors, and a dream team I love working with.

2.   How did you choose the name ZOOMA?

Choosing a name for the series took an amazingly long time… It’s hard to find a name that is unique, meaning no one else is using it for something!  ZOOMA is a nonsense word I made up that is supposed to convey feminine and fast.

3. ZOOMA race series is now in 5 cities. What does the 2013 calendar look like?

Great question!  We are announcing a new event for 2013 on July 25. We’ll announce it on our website and Facebook/Twitter.  We’ve published the dates for some of the 2013 events on our website already, but the full line up will be announced with the announced of the new event next week.

4. What has been the biggest reward of starting a national women’s race series?

Without a doubt I would say the biggest personal reward has been the people I have had the opportunity to meet and become friends with.  There are some incredibly impressive, kind, generous, and driven people in the running industry.  I owe the success of ZOOMA in many ways to the advice and support of the friends I have made.  The sort of community I have experienced is very different from the corporate law firm culture that I came from. (where advice costs you an hourly rate!)

5. Your mission is “to inspire women to live healthy, happy, and active lives.” How do you define “healthy”?

Great question. Healthy and happy go together for me, and this connection is super important for me in my personal life and is what continues to drive my passion for ZOOMA, too.

A happy life is by necessity a healthy one, because I don’t believe you can be very happy in your life unless you are healthy.  Healthy is an all-around state of balance, efficiency, and optimization.  If you are healthy, your mind is settled and at peace, your body is humming along, properly fueled and tuned, and your environment is safe and secure. I think healthfulness is a state we should all strive for above all else (money, career success, material things) because, at the end of the day, being healthy is the only way to be happy.  

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Thank you to Brae for taking the time to answer my questions. I am even more excited to be a part of this national race series!

If you haven't checked out the ZOOMA Women's Race Series you can go here.

And don't forget, you can still register for Cape Cod and use my discount code CCAMB8.

Have you run in a ZOOMA event? Tell me about it.

You can find more Fitness Friday posts over on Jill's blog.