Athlete Bio: Ashley Flick

Name: Ashley Flick

Age: 30

Location: South Riding, VA

Years Running:  8

PRs:
Marathon: 3:23:36
Half Marathon: 1:29:23

5K: 19:29

Favorite Race Distance: Half Marathon

Race Advice/Tip: Don’t forget to have fun – somewhere, somehow along the course – those are the minutes you will remember!



Cheeseburgers in Paradise


Favorite Pre-Race Food: Wheat English Muffin w/Peanut Butter and Coffee

Fun Fact About Yourself: While by day I am a nerdy electrical engineer, by night and weekends I am a creative cupcake engineer!



American Pie



How did you get into running: I started running to stay in shape for soccer in college. I found it was an easy and inexpensive way to stay in shape after graduating and then made an impulse decision to convince my parents to go to Disney with me so I could run the Disney Half. I ended up surprising myself with how I did and how much fun I had, so I decided to run the Myrtle Beach half the next month. At Myrtle I again had a blast racing and to celebrate went to the post-race party with my Aunt and Uncle. To all of our surprise, we discovered that with my 1:45 I had placed third in my age group and received my first running award! It was one of those moments you never forget and with that I was officially hooked.

Were you able to run while you were pregnant: Yes for the first 6 months. I then decided to stop running and switch to walking and swimming at 7 months. It just wasn’t fun, as I was too uncomfortable (especially since it was July at that point) and I didn’t want to stop liking running.

Do you like running alone or with friends: Definitely with friends! Finding a great group to run with since we moved to Virginia 3+ years ago has made a HUGE difference in my running – not only in my pace but also in how much more I enjoy it. Now that I am a mom – I especially find the time running with girlfriends is absolutely some of my favorite “mommy” time and I look forward to it that much more – even 10+ miles is doable and almost enjoyable when thinking about it as time to talk and catch up with friends!



Running Love

Favorite Race and Why: Myrtle Beach Half Marathon. I really feel like I have “grown-up” up as a runner at Myrtle- running it 7 times now! My grandparents spend every winter in Myrtle, so the race has been a great excuse for us to spend a fun weekend with them, complete with annual post-race Cheeseburgers in Paradise at Margaritaville! Plus, the race itself is AWESOME – the course is flat, it is a perfect size at about 6000 runners, usually has pretty good weather, and really how can you beat running along the beach?