Tera Moody (born December 18, 1980) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

, who competes in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

and other long distance

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion by which humans and other animals move quickly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walkin ...

events. Moody represented the United States at the 2009 World Championships in the

. She also placed 17th in the 2011 World Championships in 2:32:04 Moody has had

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...

since sixth grade. In 2005, she was diagnosed with

sleep apnea Sleep apnea (sleep apnoea or sleep apnœa in British English) is a sleep-related breathing disorder in which repetitive Apnea, pauses in breathing, periods of shallow breathing, or collapse of the upper airway during sleep results in poor vent ...

, and has tried many different treatments, including visiting the

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sleeping pills A hypnotic (from Greek ''Hypnos'', sleep), also known as a somnifacient or soporific, and commonly known as sleeping pills, are a class of psychoactive drugs whose primary function is to induce sleep and to treat insomnia (sleeplessness). Th ...

, a mouth guard, and a device to regulate her breathing. She now takes

melatonin Melatonin, an indoleamine, is a natural compound produced by various organisms, including bacteria and eukaryotes. Its discovery in 1958 by Aaron B. Lerner and colleagues stemmed from the isolation of a substance from the pineal gland of cow ...

, a natural supplement. Despite running more than a hundred miles a week, she still rarely sleeps more than a couple hours a night.Moody, Tera (May 3, 2010)
"Miles To Go"
New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-03 In high school, Moody was a two-time

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

champion in the mile for

St. Charles East High School St. Charles East High School is a public four-year high school located in St. Charles, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of St. Charles Community Unit School District 303, Community Unit School D ...

, near

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. She went on to compete for the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado Boulder. The university sponsors 16 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden ...

in both Cross Country and Track. She won the

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title in the

10,000 meters The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The r ...

as a freshman and ran on

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

champion cross-country team as a sophomore in 2000. After graduating from Colorado, Moody took a break from training seriously and became a

personal trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, providing m ...

and

real estate agent Real estate agents and real estate brokers are people who represent sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...

. She then started her own real estate business. She participated in the 2005

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a road marathon held in October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the seven World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is one of the largest races by number of fini ...

with a goal to break three hours. After finishing in 2:50:04, she again ran the marathon in 2006, improving by four minutes. In 2007, she qualified the U.S. Olympic Marathon trials by finishing in 2:46:40. Moody's breakthrough came at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Marathon trials in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, where despite being seeded 152nd, she finished fifth with a time of 2:33:54. This was a twelve-minute improvement of her personal best. Moody was one second behind fourth-place finisher Zoila Gomez. In 2009, Moody participated in a variety of races, finishing fourth at the 25 km U.S. championships in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. She also finished second at the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle, and fourteenth at the

Bolder Boulder The Bolder Boulder (styled as BOLDERBoulder and previously BolderBOULDER) is an annual 10-kilometer run in Boulder, Colorado. The 2007 race featured over 54,000 runners, walkers, and wheelchair racers, making it the second largest 10k race in the ...

. At the 2009 World Championships in the marathon, Moody was a part of the

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marathon team. She finished 28th in a time of 2:36:39, and was the third American. Moody also ran the 2009 Chicago Marathon, which she finished with a then personal best of 2:32:59, for 9th place. Her PR of 2:30:53 was achieved at the 2010 Chicago Marathon. Moody was selected again for the US team for the World Championships in 2011 in

Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...

, South Korea. In warm and humid conditions Moody was the top US finisher in 17th place overall in 2:32:04. At the 2012 US Olympic Trials for the marathon, Moody was a DNS. Tera suffered an injury to her hamstrings in November. Moody returned to the racing at 2013 Houston Marathon after 18 months buildup following the hamstring injury to finish 6th place in 2:39.10 and was the top American woman. Tera ran the fastest US 50 mile road race time for 2017 in 6 hours and 19 minutes. She currently competes in ultra

ElliptiGO ElliptiGO, Inc. is a manufacturer of stand-up and elliptical bicycles headquartered in Solana Beach, California. Elliptical bikes combine the motion of an indoor elliptical trainer with the outdoor mobility of a traditional bicycle. They are a t ...

events, and holds the women's 24-hour distance record of 269.7 miles.

Achievements

References

External links

*
Podcast with Moody on Running Times

Tera Moody / Marathon Performance Training Group Athlete Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moody, Tera 1980 births Living people University of Colorado alumni Sportspeople from Boulder, Colorado American female long-distance runners Sportspeople from Kane County, Illinois American female marathon runners 21st-century American women