Latin School of Chicago

Second-grade teacher Becky Myers has always been an athlete. So when the opportunity presented itself to combine athletics with her passions for travel, service, and being engaged with her church community, Myers embraced it. From early childhood, Myers played soccer. But her career came to an abrupt end when she suffered a knee injury while playing at Stanford University. "I knew I had to do something else, because I couldn't just stand aside and be a spectator." Her older sister was a veteran of 10 Chicago Marathons as well as marathons in Boston and abroad. "It was something I always wanted to try but never felt like I had enough time for," she said. When Myers couldn't play soccer any more and returned to Chicago to begin teaching, she also started running. Through her work with World Vision, Myers learned more about the urgent needs of people in communities in Africa and elsewhere and the value of providing local people with the resources to help themselves. Since her first marathon, Myers has traveled to Ethiopia to volunteer with Hope Enterprise in a food program and at a school. In the summer of 2011, she joined Team World Vision in Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro as part of an effort to raise money for children's sponsorship programs. During this trip she also visited various World Vision projects around the country. "It was a very humbling experience. My personal impact was so small, but the people were so appreciative. Seeing how the money was being put to use really validated the work we were doing." Because of her injuries and three separate knee surgeries, Myers probably will not run in another marathon. But she continues to look for ways to contribute through involvement in athletics. She recently started biking and is considering how she can make a difference through her participation in this sport. "Any time you travel, it is so eye-opening. It has made me realize just how fortunate and blessed I am – for reasons that have nothing to do with anything I've done. My way of being thankful and showing appreciation is to give back in any way that I can." If that also involves putting on her sneakers and sweats, all the better. n "Any time you travel, it is so eye-opening. It has made me realize just how fortunate and blessed I am – for reasons that have nothing to do with anything I've done." Soon after, someone came to speak at her church about World Vision, an organization that empowers and builds communities in the developing world through various initiatives. World Vision was putting together a marathon team to raise funds for a clean water project in Africa. Myers joined and ran her first Chicago Marathon in 2010. In 2011 and 12, she was a co-captain for Team World Vision-Chicago, although another knee injury prevented her from running last October. 46 L AT I N M AGAZINE

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