Layla's mom started teaching her running form in 3rd grade (after a bad day on the playground) but the habit didn't start to stick until college. She took a conditioning class to meet other students on campus, but pretty soon she was outrunning the pack and running many more miles around campus with the instructor who introduced her to triathlons and encouraged her to run her first 5k. She says it is still the best and worst 5k she's ever run.
Her first marathon was the 2010 Disney Marathon. She trained for it with a group of coworkers who were going through a leadership training course. They thought the marathon training would add a level of challenge and discipline and she says they were definitely right. She has also run lots of half marathons and says a highlight was getting to run this year's Historic Half with her husband.
Outside of running Laya lives in Arlington, VA with her husband and 21 month old daughter Anna. She grew up on Florida's space coast, which sparked her love for her the work she does. Layla works at the NASA headquarters in Washington DC as a lead communication manager for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. Their mission is to develop, test and fly the technologies required for deep space exploration. She just won the Florida State University Alumni Association's Reubin O.D. Askew Award, given to notable alumni as part of their Thirty under Thirty program and she is very excited to take her husband back to Tallahassee to receive the award!
**side note, her husband is NOT named Tony, her daughter found the sign and was using it to cheer on mom and dad! How cute is that?