Women Who Win: Grace Bowen
June 24, 2018
The D10's Women Who Win series, brought you in collaboration with ADAY, spotlights some of the incredible female athletes who take to The D10's playing field each year.
Meet Grace Bowen of Anchorage Capital Group.
This was my first year competing in The D10, and needless to say, it won’t be my last. Similar to many of you in your D10 debuts, I found myself hooked by not only the competition but also the camaraderie. I am grateful for the opportunity to have participated, overjoyed to have raised $5K for Memorial Sloan Kettering, and thrilled about the relationships I’ve built throughout the training process. I look forward to being an MSK supporter and donor moving forward, whether that’s through The D10 or independently, and I cannot wait for The D10 2019!
After reflecting on the competition and the past few months of training, I honed in on three key takeaways: the importance of having “extracurricular” goals, using gifts for good, and creating community within the city.
Extracurricular Goals
After a few athletically directionless years in Manhattan, I learned that the missing piece of the puzzle for me was having goals outside of work – “extracurricular” goals, if you will. Establishing, working towards, achieving, coming up shy of, resetting, and exceeding goals is critical to staying disciplined and ambitious not only athletically but also professionally, socially, and in many other capacities. Having fellow competitors hold me accountable at weekly workouts and having to reach a fundraising minimum are two of the many ways being a D10 participant helped me stay true to my goals. Furthermore, in trying many of the events for the first time, I’m now able to reset my goals for next year’s D10 – I’ve got a lot of wood to chop over the next 12 months!
Gifts for Good
As the initial jitters of being a rookie competitor wore off throughout the day, I found myself embracing the spirit of what we were fighting for, a cause much larger than you and I. I told myself repeatedly (after being wowed and humbled by the women I was competing alongside) that this day was not about me. Yes, I had to give each event everything I had in me, but at the end of day, this was about MSK and POETIC, and it was about paying homage to the training we had all put in over the past several months. I salute the men and women of The D10 NYC community for showing up and leaving everything on the field, track, bar, bench, and erg – using their commitment and athletic gifts to support a phenomenal cause. A win-win!
Creating Community
In a city with such high population density, I thought it would be a breeze to make new friends outside of my traditional social circles (school, work, friends of friends). Somehow, though, it’s challenging – especially when demanding work schedules are thrown into the mix. Connecting with people through The D10 (as well as my running team and various fitness classes) has made this once-intimidating city feel manageable and more intimate in many ways. Finding a group of people who not only challenge me during workouts but encourage me to dream bigger in life is invaluable. The D10 community is clearly something special, and I consider myself fortunate to be new member.
Thank you for welcoming me with open arms!
Grace shared her inspiration for competing in The D10 back in March. At The D10 NYC 2018, she smashed her goals in eight events - nine when you include fundraising.