About Me

Hello everyone!

My name is Maykel, I'm 32 years old, married and living in Newark, NJ. Right now I am undergoing chemotherapy for an aggressive cancer, but hopefully in a few months I will be able to speak about cancer in the past tense. I am optimistic and competitive, hoping my running does not suffer so much from this disease. I am a chemist by profession, and amateur ultra-marathon runner by choice. I have hopes of one day qualifying for the Boston Marathon and completing a 100 mile ultra.

I started this blog mainly to share my love for the sport of running and hopefully encourage those around me to be more active, whatever that may look like for them. The second theme of this blog is to inspire people to chase down their goals with hard work, persistence, and above all, Grit. I know that running isn't for everyone, but if you have goals in life, then this is the blog for you. The name Grit To Gold is inspired by the idea that we can turn hard work and toughness into life lessons and valuable rewards. I hope you enjoy reading my posts and that we can relate through struggles, rewards, defeats and successes.

Thanks for reading and let’s get to work!