What does it look like to have a relationship with running that lasts for decades?
Annie Almendarez has been running since high school, but her distance-running story started with a challenge. After a fellow police officer told her Black people didn’t run marathons, Annie decided to prove him wrong. In 2001, at 35 years old, she ran her first Houston Marathon in 4:28.
More than 25 years later, she’s still running.
Now 60, Annie is a Houston Marathon Legacy Runner and a 2027 Chevron Houston Marathon Ambassador. She’s run more than 20 marathons, raced around the world, and watched Houston’s running community transform from a place where she saw very few runners who looked like her to one filled with run clubs and runners from every background.
But longevity has also required Annie to change.
After a torn meniscus, arthritis in both knees, and a doctor once telling her she should stop running, Annie has had to rethink what being an athlete looks like. These days that means more rest, less mileage, biking and duathlons, listening to her body — and accepting that she doesn’t have to be the runner she was at 35.
In this episode, Annie and I talk about training for marathons before GPS watches and gels, becoming an unexpected face of marathon advertising, running while living in China, why the Houston Marathon still feels like home, racing at 60, knowing when to push and when to stop, and why she believes the secret to staying in the sport is knowing your why.
We also talk about what running has given her over the years: health, friendships, confidence, community, and proof that getting older doesn’t have to mean giving up the things you love.
Follow Runners of HOU wherever you listen to podcasts and share this episode with someone who needs the reminder that it’s never too late to start — or to redefine what running looks like for you.
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