Maria Karachyna ran her first marathon in her wedding dress.
Ultimately, she broke up with her then-boyfriend. But her love affair with marathons has been running strong for over four years.
Karachyna — known as Mary Karachyna — has become one of the few Ukrainian Six Star Finishers, the runners who ran six major world marathons: in New York, Chicago, Boston, London, Berlin, and Tokyo.
“It wasn’t the medal, it was the path that changed me,” Karachyna told the Kyiv Post.
She is also an inspiration for many: Karachyna shares her training routine and motivation on social media. Thousands follow her. And she has written a book, called “Never Stop,” to encourage others to run.
Karachyna, 30, used to work in the information technology field. Sports played no role in her life until she turned 23, because she couldn’t find any athletic activity that she enjoyed. Then she tried running.
Soon after that, Karachyna realized that sports were at the forefront of her mind most of the time and it was getting harder to focus on her work. Later, she had decided to follow her new passion and switched from IT to being a running coach.
“It was so easy and natural that I can’t imagine that it could be any other way,” she says.
First marathon
Unlike many runners, at the beginning Karachyna didn’t aspire to run a marathon, which is 42 kilometers. She says she enjoyed shorter distances for a while and also ran over 10 half-marathons (21 kilometers) during her first couple of years of amateur running.
Soon, Karachyna decided that she wanted to develop further, but that her first 42-kilometer run had to be special. So she applied for the 2015 Chicago Marathon, one of the six World Marathon Majors, some of the most high-profile running competitions in the world.
Around the same time, Karachyna learned about the Six Star Finisher award for runners who have completed the six majors.
The Chicago Marathon selects participants through a lottery, so Karachyna thought that if she was selected, “it’s fate” and she would run.
But Karachyna’s first marathon turned out to be special in an unexpected way.
Two weeks prior to the marathon in Chicago, there was another one in Kyiv. Karachyna had a fight with her then-boyfriend. As a way to prove her feelings, she decided to run the 42 kilometers in Kyiv in a wedding dress. She expected her boyfriend to propose to her at the finish line.
“For Ukraine, it was a very new experience,” she says. “People were shocked.”
Although he didn’t propose, Karachyna says she had no mixed feelings. She finished in 3 hours and 34 minutes and had the third best result among women.
She says that being on her own with her thoughts for several hours helped her realize she should focus on her own goals rather than prove anything to others.
“It was such a relief at the finish line,” she says.
Ukrainian runner Maria Karachyna holds the Six Star Finishers medal, which she received for completing six major world marathons in Chicago, New York, Boston, London, Berlin and Tokyo. (Maria Karachyna)
Marathon lessons
In October 2015, Karachyna went to Chicago where she finished in 3 hours 23 minutes — fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon, in which she hoped to participate later.
Every one of the six majors differed from the others and taught Karachyna valuable lessons.
“During this time, all kinds of things happened to me at the races,” she says. “There’s nothing that I’m scared of now.”
In Chicago, Karachyna met up with a running club from New York. Its members talked her into joining them for the New York Marathon two weeks after Chicago. Although she had missed registration and had to participate under someone else’s name, it turned out to be one of Karachyna’s best running experiences.
Unlike in Chicago, in New York Karachyna didn’t need to qualify for any other marathon so she was running slower.
“We shot videos, took selfies, gave high fives to the crowd,” she says. “It’s a different experience when you can look at the people and the city.”
She says that both the Chicago and New York marathons impressed her with how strongly the crowds expressed support for the participants. She also learned that many runners were running for a cause.
“I used to think only about the result, but after that I started thinking about running for someone, for charity.”
The Boston Marathon, in 2017, was a real trial for Karachyna. On the 18th kilometer, she strained her leg and was recommended to stop. That wasn’t an option for her. So they gave her pain reliever and she continued. At first, Karachyna was walking but then started running again.
“It was impossible (to walk) because of people’s cheers. I recharged from that.”
However, she stresses that she doesn’t consider her actions heroic in any way and doesn’t want to encourage finishing races despite health issues, as it can be dangerous.
In Boston, she finished with her worst result, in 5 hours 20 minutes. That same year, she came back to New York to run the marathon — this time under her own name. She used that opportunity to prove herself as a runner.
“The desire to have revenge after Boston played a big role,” she says.
As a result, Karachyna achieved her personal record, finishing in 3 hours 21 minutes.
After experiencing an injury, recovery, and a new achievement, Karachyna ran the Berlin Marathon the next year, in 2018. That taught her another lesson.
Karachyna says she was in the “wrong” emotional condition for the marathon — she had difficulties at work and it distracted her.
“It is very important to let everything go, at least during the race,” she says. “I was so happy when it was over.”
In 2019, Karachyna completed the two remaining marathons: Tokyo and London.
She says that after finishing the sixth marathon, she felt confident and satisfied.
“It was a very calm feeling.”
Training routine
When planning her trainings, Karachyna follows the “carrot and stick” approach. She also applies it to the Skinny&Strong Club, which she founded in 2015. The sports club offers trainings, which combine short cardio sessions with strength workouts, for women. Its motto is “Train hard, have fun.”
She has five workouts a week, rotating strength- and running-focused sessions. Her favorite places to run in Kyiv include Trukhaniv Island, the embankments near Livoberezhna and Poshtova Ploshcha metro stations, as well as the city center when it’s not too crowded.
She says that it’s important to make sports a regular routine and not to question every single training.
To stay strong, Karachyna eats lots of vegetables and greenery, chicken, fish and eggs. She says that she doesn’t eat sugar, sugary desserts, or baked goods. She also rarely drinks alcohol, especially when preparing for a marathon.
However, she is wary of placing hard restrictions on her diet. Occasionally, she will eat something she craves, but in small portions.
“When there are no restrictions, there are no breakdowns,” she says.
As for marathons, Karachyna now has a set routine.
She usually comes to the city several days prior to the competition. She avoids trying the local cuisine before the race, because it could result in health issues or discomfort.
Karachyna wakes up around two hours before the race and eats oatmeal with bananas.
For a marathon, she always prepares a music playlist beforehand. It always features a mix of rhythmic tracks to match her pace, her favorite songs, and nostalgic songs connected to her childhood — which keep her moving at the hardest moments.
However, she pauses the music at times to catch some city noise and hear people’s cheers.
As for Ukraine, Karachyna says that, more and more often, she doesn’t take part in marathons here but instead comes to support other runners.
“That part is extremely important,” she told the Kyiv Post.
When she occasionally runs in Kyiv, Karachyna is still focused on supporting others rather than reaching her own records. At the Nova Poshta Kyiv Half Marathon in 2018 she was running alongside each of her trainees to the finish line but wasn’t crossing it herself. Eventually, she decided to support a woman who was running the last and who was barely making it into the time limit.
“She said that she would be the last, and I told her ‘no, I will be the last.”
She says that while the organization of races in Kyiv is growing more professional, society has not changed its perception of these events.
“We need to explain that it attracts tourists and it’s a holiday for the city,” she says.
