Emma Kertesz didn’t hit the time goal she was aiming for on January 19 at the Houston Marathon. She had trained to run between 2:33 and 2:34, but high winds on race day put a PR out of reach for her. Kertesz ran 2:37:52, 18 seconds off her best from May 2024.
She was, however, heartened by how well she competed at Houston over the final miles. “That was one of my non-time-based goals going into this,” she said in a phone call with Runner’s World. “I wanted to be able to truly race the last 10K. And so I am really happy with myself that I was able to turn that on and compete and race.”
Her late-race tenacity earned Kertesz, who works 50 hours per week as director of education for a preschool in Boulder County, Colorado, a 10th-place finish at Houston.
Kertesz is 34—a millennial. She decorates her elite.
Kertesz is 34—a millennial. She decorates her elite water bottles with stickers of figures from pop culture, many from her teen years—Steve Carell as Michael Scott in The Office, funny meme vinyl stickers” from Amazon She bought a pack of &ldquo, Emma Kertesz races the Houston Marathon on January 19, 2025 funny meme vinyl stickers” from Amazon, Fastest Marathon Runners Weini Kelati Breaks American Half Marathon Record, Courtesy of Emma Kertesz Olympic Marathon Trials in 2016.
When she gets to town wherever she’s racing, she’ll buy clear water bottles from Walgreens or Target, the ones with the “squeezy” top. Kertesz empties out the water and fills it with her fluids for the race. (She is partial to Neversecond C90 and Skratch Labs hydration.) Then she decorates them with stickers.
She bought a pack of “funny meme vinyl stickers” from Amazon A Part of Hearst Digital Media.
What’s the point?
Well, two things. One, most elites decorate their bottles with supplies from the elite hospitality suite, where race organizers provide pipe cleaners, ribbons, and different colors of tape. Kertesz can easily find her bottles among all that sparkle—who else has Steve Carell out there?
“I do love The Office,” Kertesz said.
More important, the bottles remind her that she’s doing it because she wants to. All the early bedtimes (8:45 p.m.), early wake-ups (4:40 a.m.) and pre-dawn miles are for something she enjoys.
The bottles reliably get her to smile. “I try to pick out ones that make me laugh or give me good energy as a nice reminder when I’m doing something hard,” she said. “I just think they’re so funny. They take me out of the moment and I can be like, ‘Okay, just breathe.’”
Kertesz gets a laugh from Instagram reels of Kardashian impersonations. So the reality TV star got a special place at the 35K (21.7 miles) aid station in Houston.
“I do try and put the funnier ones at the end,” Kertesz said, “just so I can think, ‘Okay, remember, like, this is fun. We’re having fun.’”
What’s her next marathon? Kertesz isn’t sure yet. Possibly the Marathon Project in December. Whenever it is, one thing is for sure: Kim Kardashian will be there with her.
Sarah Lorge Butler is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
