September 18, 2019

Meet Edna Jackeline Vazquez of Vive Healthy Sport and Nutrition

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Edna Jackeline Vazquez.

Edna Jackeline, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am a Mexican-American immigrant living in Chicago. I came here in 2005 with my Dad, with the desire to have a better life with more opportunities for growth. The essence of this journey was to explore myself through freedom and love.

I have been running ultramarathons since 1998. The ultramarathon (any race distance over the traditional 26.2 mile marathon) is a noble, hard and complex discipline. Through it I have found love and passion.

I was raised in a hardworking family where my two options for bettering myself were study and sport. My transition to move my life to Chicago was aided by running ultramarathons, studying and working hard in the food industry. I got a scholarship from one of my employers to go to school for my master’s degree in business (MBA) and my business career in Chicago blossomed from that. Since 2006, I have worked in several different areas of the food industry: from purchasing raw materials, through production lines, packaging, logistics and sales.

Meanwhile, my first ultra in Chicago was the Lakefront 50 Miler, held in October 2005. Since then, I have been running all over the Midwest, in races with distances from 50 miles to 150 miles. I also became the first Mexican-American woman to finish the highly competitive 4 Deserts Race Series — which consists of four individual 250km stage races across some of the most inhospitable locations in the world. To complete it, I ran the Atacama Desert in Chile, the Gobi Desert in China, the Namib Desert in Africa and Antarctica.

My passion and love for helping my community is strong. I am heavily involved in healthy lifestyle education and sport. I worked with organ and tissue donation organization Gift of Hope while also educating Pilsen youth boxing groups at Harrison Park and giving fitness classes for seniors at the Xilin Association adult day care. I coach and oversee a marathon training/running program for Esperanza Wellness Center, for its team preparing to run the Chicago Marathon. Their mission is provide bilingual high quality primary healthcare, behavioral healthcare and wellness services for the community, regardless of immigration status, insurance status, or ability to pay. I also participate and coaching the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Children program by Nuestra Señora del Tepeyac Head Start-Child Care Center (Early Childhood Development) run by Catholic Charities.

In October 2018 I launched my book: “The Races of My Life” (“Las Carreras de mi Vida”) in Spanish. The book is my story, detailing my transition from life in Mexico to Spain and eventually the United States. In it I talk about my life through running — the ups and downs — and I use races as metaphors for the diversity I have faced. The book narrates the arduous journeys of an ultramarathoner, but also of a woman in search of freedom, self-determination and love. It is a story that can be appreciated by athletes and non-athletes alike.

In February of 2018, my husband, Jeff Lung – a trainer, boxer and ultramarathoner as well – and I opened up our own fitness studio in the Pilsen neighborhood called Vive Healthy Sport and Nutrition. Located in the heart of Chicago, Vive Healthy is dedicated to building a strong community through physical activity and healthy lifestyle education. Our pillars are: inspiration, integrity and innovation. Among our values are: service, unity, dignity, love, hard work, commitment, compassion, perseverance, experience and leadership.

I am forever thankful to Chicago for opening its doors to me and for allowing me to follow my dreams through hard work, dedication and perseverance. I’m blessed to now be a US citizen and because of that I continue to do all I can to service my community and help others lead and maintain a healthy and happy lifestyle.

Has it been a smooth road?
As an immigrant, for me the most difficult part has been breaking stereotypes. Many outsiders looked at me and thought “she could only work in a factory or a restaurant”. Breaking the idea that I could do more than just hard labor and proving that I am a critical thinker with valuable knowledge ranging from sports to business and everything in between has been a my main focus in this culture. We are all much more complex than a stereotype. This country was founded by immigrants — immigrants who were full of great innovations, people who create products, services and businesses. It flourished under immigrants who were inspiring teachers and leaders and thinkers. It became what it is today by those who were willing to work hard and risk everything. That is what I want others to remember when the road isn’t so smooth.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Vive Healthy Sport and Nutrition story. Tell us more about the business.
Vive Healthy Sport and Nutrition is a fitness studio in the Pilsen neighborhood that is dedicated to building a strong community through physical activity and healthy lifestyle education. We specialize in group fitness classes, personal training and health/cultural education.

I am most proud of creating a space for the community where all are welcome. We have people from multiple cultures and backgrounds who train with us toward a common goal of health and happiness and we inspire others to dream big, inside and outside the gym.

What sets us apart from others is that we are a space where we combine physical education with cultural awareness towards building bridges between neighbors, families, friends and organizations to establish a healthy environment.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Right now we are experiencing a health crises in this country and until major changes take place in the way we eat and the way we live, the health and fitness industry is only going to grow.

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