Submitted photo Brooke Taylor Hays, a 2017 Lakeview High School graduate, completed the Glass City Marathon in Toledo in April. It was a warmup to the New York City Marathon that she will run this fall as a member of Team Beyond Type 1 while raising money to support people living with Type 1 diabetes.

When Lakeview Local Schools graduate Brooke Taylor Hays joined the cross country team in high school, she learned something a little too late.

“I actually hated running,” Hays said. “I hated it because I knew running was good for you.”

She eventually switched to tennis.

She’s gotten over her dislike for distance running. This fall, the 2017 Lakeview High School graduate will run the New York City Marathon as a member of Team Beyond Type 1 while raising money to support people living with Type 1 diabetes.

Hays was diagnosed with the condition in 2011 after months of unexplained symptoms.

“I was rapidly losing weight,” she said. “I was thirsty all the time. I was eating so much … and I just could not put weight on.”

Her pediatrician checked her blood sugar, which measured 426, and admitted her to Akron Children’s Hospital.

She spent three days in the hospital learning how to monitor her blood sugar, count carbohydrates and administer insulin injections. She was 12 years old and preparing to enter seventh grade.

“There’s never a good time to be diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder,” she said. “I feel like middle school going into high school is the worst time.”

Hays said it took years to fully understand what the diagnosis meant.

“I haven’t realized until later years, as each anniversary of my diagnosis comes around, that this is forever,” she said.

She decided to train for her first marathon after seeing another runner with Type 1 diabetes on social media.

“I just kept thinking, ‘Why not me?'” Hays said. “If she’s doing it, I can do it.”

She followed a training plan and discovered that her feelings about the sport changed after leaving high school.

“I ended up falling in love with running,” she said.

Hays is raising money for Beyond Type 1, a nonprofit that provides peer support, education, awareness and healthcare access initiatives for people living with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. She hopes to raise $5,000 by Dec. 1.

“I’d really like to show people that you aren’t your diagnosis,” Hays said. “We can go beyond our limits.”

Hays, 27, lives in Columbus, where she works remotely in programmatic digital advertising after graduating from Capital University in 2021.

She said her husband, Hunter, has supported her marathon training by riding alongside her on long runs while carrying snacks, sports drinks and supplies to monitor her blood sugar.

“He’s been so supportive,” she said. “He’s the most supportive partner when it comes to me being diabetic and me running and my health journey.”

Donations to Hays’ fundraising campaign can be made at beyondtyperun.funraise.org/fundraiser/brooke-taylor.