Oiselle is thrilled and gratified to welcome ultra and trail runner Sarah Bard to our Professional Team. Sarah was part of our epic #Birdstrike team, and continued her spring and summer of adventure with her 6^th place at Comrades ultramarathon in South Africa. With Oiselle as one of her supporters, Sarah - aka #BardBird - plans to spend the next 12 months traveling the US in her big red van: running trails, meeting runners, and building trail community connections. 

You’ll be able to follow along and make plans to join her trail meetups. She'll also be looking for local trail tips, so as we go - we'll want to hear your favorite places to fly! 

Also, read more about Sarah's athletic accomplishments.

Because the athlete's words are always best, a letter from Sarah Bard...

First off, I want to say how excited and inspired I am by this adventure. Second, I want to thank you for this - for supporting me and for believing in me. Ten (ish) years ago, I ran my first marathon...in 4:02. I was so scarred by the experience (I ran the first half in 1:30) I didn't run for almost two years. 

I rediscovered my connection with running shortly before moving to Chicago and was inspired to seek redemption at the Chicago marathon - redemption for the 'marathon experience', rather than time. However, I comfortably ran a 3:15 marathon. I had a great time running, and (surprisingly) I ran a great time. 

Following this experience, my boyfriend/husband, John, encouraged me to continue to pursue improvement, ultimately suggesting I set my sights on the Olympic Trials qualifier (then 2:46). Though I am not typically a person to underestimate myself, it was John's encouragement that really scaffolded my expectations of myself and my abilities.

When I moved to Boston a few years later, I found a community that believed in dreams, that believed in hard work, that saw the value in athletic pursuits at any age. I was introduced to Terry Shea, who as the women’s head coach of the BAA, served as the default coach for several women in the Boston area. Terry coached 13+ athletes, at least 11 of them women, to the most recent Marathon Trials, many of us from 3+ hour marathon PRs. While Terry's workouts were excellent, it was really his communication, attention to detail, and belief in his athletes that resulted in consistently strong performances. Being a part of this group who valued grand goals, who believed and expected, elevated us all. Never would I have imagined while running that 4:02 marathon, or even that 3:15 marathon, or even when I broke 3 hours for the first time that only a handful of years later I'd find myself running 2:43. But surrounding oneself with believers, with pursuers, with interested and engaged people does amazing things.

The past two years of my life have been incredibly difficult. Somewhere along the way I lost myself. I've always been very strong-willed, excited, passionate person, and instead I found myself a shell. I felt empty and hollow. It's been a hard, confusing, and often uncertain road back, but I've made it. I feel confident in my path forward.

A catalyst in the healing and process of acceptance was Birdstrike. I'm so grateful that the universe connected me to Birdstrike, and closer to the Oiselle community. Being surrounded by strong, encouraging women helped me rediscover those qualities within myself. 

I'm excited for the future because I'm excited to be part of the Oiselle community. I'm excited to know that I'm part of a community that champions women, sponsors women - where our strength and ability is not caveated by our gender. I'm excited to help others build confidence, to grow, to push, to accept, to find hidden strength within themselves, to expand their own reach - in the world, in their communities, in their minds, in their lives. 

Thank you for believing in me and bringing me into your community. Thank you for being open-minded, for encouraging 'alternative' approaches to living. Thank you for being a brand that is invested and interested in their people. This is going to be really fun. I'm sure it will be challenging at times, but being challenged is rewarding.

Let's do this!

Sarah Bard