Iris Chuluunbat
Age: 45
Events: Half marathon and marathon
Hometown: Seattle, but was born and grew up in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Personal Bests
5K - 17:00
10K - 36:27
Half Marathon -1:21:10
Marathon - 2:51:15
Career Highlights
Paris Marathon 2019 - 17th place overall women
Berlin Marathon 2019 --2nd in my age group, received silver medal
Big Elf 10K Vancouver 2019-- 1st place over all
NYC half 2019 - 51st overall women (fast race)
SouthLake Union 10K Seattle 2019 -- 2nd women
Tokyo Marathon 2016 -- 50th overall women
Labor day Half 2019 - 1st master -female
Iron Horse Half Seattle -- 1st women
Ghost of Seattle Marathon 2015 - 1st women
Green Lake Gobble 10K 2019-- 1st overall
About
I was born and grew up in Mongolia. I have lived in many countries and eventually settled in Seattle. I wasn't very athletic when I grew up. I loved dancing modern ballet but I never been good in it to become professional dancer. However my love for classic dance and music, sometimes, I choreograph steps and body movement in my head when I hear symphony. These days, my running steps become my dance. When I am at a symphony or opera, I can feel my running cadence, and when I am running, I can hear the symphony and opera in my heart.
After I moved to Seattle, it was hard to endure grey wet long winter of Northwest and I noticed I was spending most of my days indoor. To find motivation and reason to spend more time outdoor and be active, I decided to join local running group. In 2014 March, I signed up marathon training plan of Fleet Feet Seattle, and 2 months later, I ran my very first race which was full marathon in Vancouver. This marathon time qualified me for Boston marathon entry. Since then I have been running many road and trail races. in 2015 July, I joined Seattle Green Lake Running Group, and ran Chicago Marathon in 3:03 which I never thought possible. 2017, I ran the same race and this time I ran sub-3. Since the, I have ran 3 marathon under 3 hours.I joined Club Northwest Training group in August 2019, and ran my very first Cross Country race. With help from coaches from Club Northwest, I was able to recover from ankle injury and to train 6 weeks to race Berlin Marathon in 2:51:15, which qualified me to participate Age Group World Championship Marathon in London 2020.
When I run, I feel happy and free, so I run everyday. My morning starts with running, from 3 miles to 30 miles.
It is really fun to visit the cities where I used to live or new, and run through their neighborhoods and streets, and discover parts that hidden or never get attention.
Running become my lifestyle and hopefully, I live this lifestyle rest of my life.