Vanessa Etienne is an Emerging Content Writer-Reporter for PEOPLE. Prior to joining in April 2021, she served as a reporter for Men's Health Magazine and BET Digital after freelancing for publications such as The New York Times and Everyday Health. Originally from northern Virginia, Vanessa is a proud Haitian American with a love for R&B music and mental health topics. She graduated from North Carolina State University with a bachelor's in Communication and Public Relations before earning her master's degree in Journalism from the City University of New York.
A California woman has completed her first marathon — and she did it from the comfort of her own apartment.
Kristen Hollinghaus Seninger, 24, works remotely from her San Francisco apartment and decided to purchase an under-desk treadmill to stay active throughout the workday. She told Runner’s World that she believed walking just a few miles would improve her mood and increase her energy level.
"I don't like just sitting in my chair for eight hours straight. So I wanted to add the walking pad into my routine, whether it was walking a couple hours a day or a couple of hours a week," she told the outlet. "I just wanted to see if it would improve my lifestyle."
After noticing the impact that walking had on her body, Hollinghaus Seninger decided on Oct. 26 that she wanted to try completing a half marathon on the walking pad, documenting the day in a TikTok video.
Hollinghaus Seninger admitted that the half marathon wasn't too difficult to complete so she quickly set another goal to walk a marathon during her workday.
"I wanted to do something crazy again, I was just in the mood for it," she explained. "People run marathons all the time, so I'm like, walking it can't be that bad. Let's see if I can make it happen during the work day."
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Hollinghaus Seninger documented the mile in another now-viral TikTok video, logging her miles on her Apple Watch, which she strapped to her ankle. With a few breaks throughout the day, she finished her marathon at 4:39 p.m., walking 26.41 miles with 47,877 steps.
"My feet, of course, hurt — but they did not hurt as bad as I thought they were going to," she told Runner's World. "I thought I wouldn't be able to move my limbs after. I was shocked at how good I felt."
Although she's walked a marathon, Hollinghaus Seninger said that she doesn't have any plans to actually run one just yet, admitting that she can't commit to the intense training. But, she's keeping it on her list of goals.
For now, she has her eyes on her next challenge.
"I've been considering walking coast-to-coast on my walking pad," Hollinghaus Seninger told the outlet. "Obviously, I wouldn't be physically walking coast-to-coast, but I could track my mileage and do weekly updates of how far I walked."
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