Stephanie Baliga had been running since she was 9 years old. By the time she arrived at the University of Illinois, she was already the sixth-fastest freshman runner in the country, with her sights set on a professional career and miles of daily training defining her routine.
Then she fractured her foot in her sophomore year. Hours on the track turned into hours of prayer, and there she found something she did not expect: the certainty that her life belonged to another cause. Today she lives at the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels in Chicago, and she still runs — but now every marathon is a fundraiser.
In 15 years, she has raised more than 2.6 million dollars in food for struggling families. She never made it to the Olympics. She ended up feeding more people than she ever would have reached with a medal.