Kim Brouillette, Christina Murphy and Elizabeth Schwan

What started years ago as a weekly 9:00AM training session at the Andover YMCA became something far greater than fitness. A group of women ranging in age from 23 to 75 and from all walks of life showed up week after week, unknowingly building a team that would become a family.

Together, Kim Brouillette, Christina Murphy and Elizabeth Schwan and others, weathered the uncertainty of COVID-19, adapted when their home branch was destroyed by a tornado and trained at another YMCA branch for two years, and stood beside one another through surgeries, heartbreak, loss, celebrations and every challenge in between. No matter what life brought, they kept showing up, not just for the workout, but for each other.

Their journey recently reached a milestone when they traveled to Disney World together to run a half marathon, proving that friendship, resilience and encouragement can take you farther than you ever imagined.