Rivera competed in track and field in middle and high school but didn’t run in her adult years. That changed in 2012, when she took part in BGR’s “Couch to 5K” training program: Over eight weeks, participants go from sedentary to running 3.1 miles. Since then she has completed five marathons, including one in New York with Back on My Feet, a national nonprofit (founded in Philly) that helps the homeless develop independent living skills and find housing and employment. And she has been an ambassador and a run coordinator with BGR.