As far as her legs will carry her
Very little is known of a Ghanaian American marathoner whose passion for running long distance is one of a unique kind because she started lacing her long-distance running shoes in her mid-forties.
“My love for running became a passport to explore the world.
The rhythmic beat of my feet took me to new places, allowing me to experience different cultures and landscapes,” she was quoted as saying.
Now, in her early fifties, she is not thinking of giving up, but rather poised to run until her legs cannot carry her again.
With both full and short marathons coming up in the subsequent months and years, Nana Serwa Wiafe is ready to conquer the world and participate in these upcoming endurance challenges.
A woman anointed with resilience, perseverance and willpower, she trusts her fortitude and believes she is in the best of shape to continue doing what she is so passionate about.
Earlier life
Born in the early seventies in Kumasi, Nana Serwa, as she prefers to be known, is the sixth child of her father’s seven offspring, and the second of her mother’s three daughters.
“Though I am a girl, my mother lovingly dubbed me the son she never had,” Serwa quoted this as her mother’s usual remarks.
Nana Serwa’s passion for running took off when she was at a primary school in Akropong.
While her classmates and peers were busy with other extra-curricular activities, she was developing an insatiable taste for speed, endurance and competition.
As she put it, “the track became my ultimate playground.”
Her life changed in the early 1980s when she travelled to the United States and reunited with her parents in Chicago, Illinois.
With the opportunities and other privileges that came with moving to a country like the United States, she soon found herself excelling in soccer and running track events.
For her love of speed, the pulsating 100 and 200 metres and the exciting 100x4 metres relay were her favourites.
Passion for running
Nana Serwa’s passion for running grew over the years.
She started a new endeavour in her mid-forties, that is long-distance running.
Her life has been anchored by the hard work and self-discipline needed to become a marathoner, which gives her a sense of accomplishment and purpose.
She has bonded with a chosen family through her travels to run, a relationship based on similar and common objectives and distance covered. Her passion for running became a means of exploring the world.
Through the rhythmic movement of her feet, she was able to explore new places and experience different cultures and landscapes.
She is not only a marathon juggernaut, but also an elegant and cultured highbrow mother of one.
She graduated from high school at Bolingbrook High School, a suburb of Chicago in Illinois, and graduated from Bradley University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology with a Minor in Health Administration.
She also bagged an MBA in Project Management from the University of Phoenix in Arizona.
She is currently a senior Technical Project Manager in Healthcare technology.
Vision and commitment
Running a marathon as Nana Serwa says, “takes vision, and commitment”.
She went on to say to become committed to such an endurance discipline also requires dedication, and above all faith.
“As I lace up my running shoes, I am not merely a participant in the races; I am a traveller, a pursuer of new horizons, and a testament to the transformative power of putting one foot in front of the other.’’
To commemorate her 53rd birthday, Nana Serwa completed her 39th half marathon race, the USA FIT Resolution Half Marathon, on January 7, 2024, with proceeds going to the Central Texas Food Bank, because of her commitment to the global food insecurity.
Two weeks later, she ran her 40th half marathon at the 3M Half Marathon, capping ten years of distance running.
A remarkable achievement she is so proud of.
She started her second round of the Abbott World Marathon Major with a fierce sense of determination.
In September 2024, Berlin beckoned on the horizon, offering fresh opportunities for success.
She was focused on a singular journey beyond that, that is the half marathons across seven countries in January 2025.
She would run races on every continent in just seven days as part of her global adventurous accomplishment.
Winning medals
Having completed marathon races in 29 states already, she had intended to retire from full marathon racing after the Tokyo event and concentrate on finishing the 50 States Half Marathon Challenge.
But before she leaves for Tokyo, she did another half marathon on February 18, 2024.
She will also be racing the Detroit Free Press International Marathon in October 2024, the 50th Anniversary of the Berlin Marathon in September 2024, and the inaugural Women's Marathon in Savannah, Georgia, in November 2024.
This will bring her amazing 2024 running year to an epic end.
Throughout all these, even though Serwa is an American, she has proudly worn the colours of her native country Ghana, a country she left behind to pursue her goals and dreams in the United States.
Nana Serwa is not in the quest of global recognition, but rather to fulfil a dream characterised by a strong passionate desire to win medals won through hard work, resilience and accomplishments.
Make no mistake, on March 3, 2024, Nana Serwa Wiafe will become the first Ghanaian to have completed all six races, which include Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York and Tokyo.
Tokyo will be her final race in this series.
A remarkable achievement by an equally remarkable woman.
“The road ahead is an open book, and with each step, I continue to write the story of my life.
A story defined by resilience, passion and the unyielding spirit of a runner,” Nana Serwa said.
The writer is an author and English language instructor
Email: simpson_mac@yahoo.com