Adriana Nelson ran two solid marathons last year, finishing 15th in Boston and ninth in Frankfurt. In 2013, she won the U.S. Half Marathon Championships and was the first American woman to finish the New York City Marathon. Before becoming an American citizen in 2011, Nelson (formerly Pirtea) was a Romanian national champion in the 5,000m (four times) and 10,000m (two-times). She finished tenth at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2005, contributing to the Romanian team earning the gold medal. A career highlight for Nelson was her second place at the 2007 Chicago Marathon. At that race, she thought she had secured the win, but Berhane Adere sprinted past her on the opposite side of the road to edge Nelson at the line for the title.

Nelson graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology and then married Jeremy Nelson in 2008. The couple recently started a company called ROLL Recovery, which sells a new massage tool for runners. At UTEP Nelson realized that running would change her life. “I also saw how running changed the lives of many Romanian women, who went on to win gold medals in the Olympics and the World Championships.” Noting that many of these women trained in Colorado, Nelson wanted to do the same and made the move. Nelson says,“A pivotal moment in my running career was definitely switching from competing for Romania to the USA. I was offered a spot on the marathon team to compete for Romania at the 2012 Olympic Games, but I chose to compete for the USA and turned it down. It is still a dream of mine to make the Olympics, but I am very satisfied competing for the country where I live and train and where my husband lives.”

“Having raced marathons all over the world, I can say with 100 percent confidence there isn’t another race like the Boston Marathon. I asked myself what makes it different and I think it comes down to the people. It’s not only the runners competing in the race, but all the passionate spectators and volunteers that make Boston such an iconic event. I am so honored and excited to be back this year and toe the line with the world’s best.”