Mariah Powell’s Story

What has changed since we last shared your story?

Mariah Powell is still finding new ways to turn her story into purpose.

Since becoming part of the Runway for Recovery community, Mariah has continued to show up not only as a model, but as an advocate, a mentor, and a source of representation for other Black women facing breast cancer.

That representation has always mattered to her.

Mariah knows what it means to look for someone who looks like you in a space where breast cancer is being discussed. She knows how powerful it can be to see another Black woman living, healing, advocating, and making room for joy after diagnosis.

Now, she wants to keep being that person for someone else.

As she prepares to come to Boston for Runway’s 20th Anniversary Show, Mariah is also stepping into a new role as a model mentor, helping welcome and support others as they enter the Runway community.

For Mariah, it is another way to make sure no one has to feel alone in their story.

 

How has running become part of your healing?

Over the past year, Mariah picked up running.

At first, she was training for the New York City Half Marathon. Surgery changed that plan, and she was not able to run it. But the goal did not disappear. Mariah now has her sights set on 2027.

More importantly, something shifted along the way.

“I fell in love with running,” Mariah says.

Running gave her more than a training plan. It gave her a community in Virginia Beach. It gave her a way to move through everything her body had been through. It gave her joy, structure, strength, and purpose.

It also gave her an idea.

Mariah began imagining a 5K race at the Virginia Beach oceanfront, right on the boardwalk, in front of the water. She could bring together her running community, her local community, and the Runway community for one shared purpose: raising money for families impacted by breast cancer.

“I think I would like to put on a 5K race at our oceanfront,” she says.

 

Why organize a 5K for Runway?

Mariah wants the Virginia Beach 5K to benefit Runway for Recovery.

For her, the event is a natural extension of what Runway has already given her: community, support, connection, and a platform to use her story for something bigger.

She also knows she is dreaming big.

“I really could be biting off more than I can chew,” she says. “But I just feel like I’m superwoman all the time, so I think I could do it.”

That energy is part of what makes Mariah who she is.

She is not only thinking about participating. She is thinking about building. She is thinking about sponsors, permits, branding, registration, race timing, local running stores, police support, water, snacks, T-shirts, and how to bring the community together in a way that feels both meaningful and fun.

She wants the event to feel official, welcoming both dedicated runners who care about pace and newer runners who simply want to show up, move, and support the cause.

For Mariah, it is about creating something that can help families and spread Runway’s mission beyond Boston, New York, and Southern California.

 

Why Virginia Beach?

Virginia Beach is home for Mariah, and she wants this event to reflect the community she has found there.

She imagines the race at the oceanfront, where the setting itself can help draw attention and energy. She has friends in the Virginia Beach Police Department who can help her understand permits and logistics. She also knows local people, businesses, and runners who may be willing to sponsor, support, or participate.

Mariah is thinking about the full community: runners, families, local businesses, hospitals, grocery stores, sneaker shops, physical therapy offices, energy drink brands, and anyone who has been touched by breast cancer.

She is also thinking strategically. Since many oceanfront races happen in October, Mariah is considering spring, after Runway’s New York show, as a way to avoid competing with other events and create space for something new.

Her hope is that Runway can come down, support the event, and help bring even more visibility to the mission.

 

How does this connect to representation?

Mariah’s desire to organize a 5K is also connected to her desire to be visible.

She wants other Black women to see her and know that breast cancer does not erase joy, movement, ambition, strength, or community.

She wants to be a face of what it can look like to keep going.

Running has helped Mariah feel connected to her body and to other people. Organizing a race gives her a chance to turn that joy into something that supports families navigating breast cancer.

It also allows her to show other women, especially other Black women, that there is no single way to be a survivor, a patient, an advocate, or a model.

You can run.

You can mentor.

You can fundraise.

You can build something.

You can be both honest about what you have been through and excited about what comes next.

 

What does becoming a model mentor mean?

Coming to Boston as a model mentor is another meaningful step in Mariah’s Runway story.

She knows what it feels like to enter a community for the first time. She knows the courage it can take to share your story, step onto a stage, or allow yourself to be seen.

Now, she gets to help someone else do that.

As a mentor, Mariah can offer encouragement, perspective, and the kind of lived understanding that only comes from having walked through it herself.

She can help remind new models that they belong.

She can help them feel celebrated.

And she can continue to lead in the way she already does: with warmth, strength, honesty, and purpose.

 

What are we celebrating this year?

This year, we are celebrating Mariah’s next chapter.

We are celebrating the runner, the mentor, the advocate, and the woman who continues to turn her story into a source of purpose.

We are celebrating her vision for a Virginia Beach 5K that brings people together to move, fundraise, and support families impacted by breast cancer.

We are celebrating her commitment to representation and her desire to be a face of hope for other Black women.

And we are celebrating the joy she has found in running: joy that has become community, community that has become purpose, and purpose that is becoming action.

As Mariah comes to Boston for Runway’s 20th Anniversary, we are honored to celebrate not only where she has been, but everything she is building next.