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Kiley Lyall entered the contest to become the cover model for Women’s Running magazine without expecting much. But this year, she won.
Kiley is a 24-year-old woman, and her running story was a bit different from all the others. She has autism, and suffers from epilepsy and mild cerebral palsy.
It was the biography that she wrote for herself that made her a crowd favorite—when she was asked to describe herself in three words, the words were “sweet, determined, and successful.”
“Running has literally helped my brain become healthier!” she said in her biography. “My autism doesn’t take over my days anymore…when I run it relieves so much stress on my brain, allowing me to function much better through most days!”
Kiley started running when she was just eight years old. She was an anchor for her relay team in the Special Olympics, and though her team was in last when the baton got to her, she was able to pull ahead and win gold for her team.
Since then, she’s been racing. She and her mother used to run 5K races for charity. It was just in the past year that she started getting serious about it.
She ran her first half marathon in Chicago last year, but not without her share of hardship. She suffered a seizure on mile 10. She picked herself up and continued running, only to suffer another seizure a mile later.
Paramedics told her to stop, but she finished the race with no more seizures.
This year, she finished the Chicago Half Marathon seizure free.
“I just can’t express the change in her in a year’s time,” said Kiley’s mother, Kathleen, to Women’s Running.
The editor-in-chief of Women’s Running, Jessie Sebor, said, “We’re so passionate about this cover and the opportunity to share Kiley’s story of determination. Our readers know that a love of running stems from many places and sentiments. We want to support all women on their running journey."
