Rachel Bankaci never considered herself an athlete in her youth.
But with 18 marathons under her belt — and a 19th in the works — Bankaci has come a long way from her childhood days of watching track athletes compete in the Olympics.
Now, Bankaci is a personal trainer and certified run coach, helping runners of all experience levels achieve their goals.
Bankaci, 48, of Latrobe grew up near Uniontown in Fayette County. Drawing on her admiration of Olympic distance runners, Bankaci decided to give her high school’s track and field team a try.
“When I had the opportunity to run track, which was something I had watched people do on TV, I was really excited about that idea,” she said. “Once I started running myself, I realized that it was a lot harder than I had imagined.
“But I loved putting in the hard work.”
‘I had to work very, very hard’
Bankaci stuck with it, joining her high school’s cross country team in the fall. When she learned about the Boston Marathon through one of her coaches, she was hooked on the idea of completing the 26.2-mile race herself one day.
The journey to achieve that goal wasn’t all smooth sailing, she said.
“I was never a talented, fast and speedy runner,” Bankaci said. “I had to work very, very hard and fail many times at my attempts before I finally got the time that I needed.”
The Boston Marathon is one of six World Marathon Majors — the other five being the Tokyo, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City marathons. They are considered the six most prestigious marathon races worldwide.
Because of its popularity, the Boston Marathon only accepts runners who have achieved a certain qualifying standard based on their age. Bankaci achieved the qualifying standard during the 2017 Pittsburgh Marathon.
But because of the volume of runners who submitted qualifying times that year, Bankaci did not make the cut. She qualified again in 2020, only for the race to be canceled because of the covid-19 pandemic.
It wasn’t until 2022 that she finally reached her goal.
‘It should be something that’s adding to your life’
The marathon distance remains Bankaci’s passion, as she prepares to race the Pittsburgh Marathon in the spring. But her training process has changed over the years.
When her children, now 10 and 13, were younger, she ran while pushing them in a stroller. Today, she wakes up at the crack of dawn to squeeze in a strength training session before heading off to Valley School of Ligonier, where she has taught for four years. After work, she takes her 5-year-old Doberman, Lola, out for a run.
Gina Kriger, one of Bankaci’s close friends and a running partner of 10 years, has witnessed the transformation firsthand.
“I think that’s the greatest thing about Rachel. She knows how to train hard, and she’s helped me and coached me with many races that I was doing,” said Kriger, 41, of Greensburg. “But we’re at a point now where we just enjoy being out together, out in the community and exploring and getting away and having that time.”
Bankaci launched her virtual run coaching company, RachelRunsPA, at the start of the new year. She aims to instill the same flexibility in her clients.
“A lot of it is just helping people figure out time management and how to make running work around their life,” Bankaci said. “I think that’s one of the most important things, because sometimes people think it’s an all-or-nothing thing.
“It’s really more important that you can make running work with your life. It should be something that’s adding to your life or giving you fulfillment versus being something that’s stressful.”