Former Miss Universe Set to Run NYC Marathon Despite 'Setbacks'

Pia Wurtzbach is overcoming some major interruptions to her training.

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach dazzles on the red carpet.Richard James Mendoza/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Pia Wurtzbach is still planning to run the NYC marathon undeterred by numerous complications. The 2015 Miss Universe winner revealed she has faced several setbacks during her training to compete in the race. In an Instagram post, the Filipino-German model shared a glimpse of her journey with her 13.9 million followers.

“I faced a lot of setbacks the past few months,” Wurtzbach wrote in her post. From suffering from COVID-19 and getting sick twice, the model had missed training days and found that her performance had seriously suffered.

It is often said that marathons are as much, if not more, of a mental feat as a physical one. The co-founder of The Queens shared that these breaks in training have tainted her mental health too. 

“When you miss those long runs or you fail at reaching goals during training, you get so disappointed in yourself to the point of wanting to give up,” she said.

Wurtzbach did some soul searching, and with some good guidance and help from her coaches, is coming out the other side. She’s more confident and with an even more powerful lesson to share.

“Now the goal is to just finish the marathon,” he said. “No matter how slow or fast it’ll take me. I realized that this isn’t a pageant. I’m not competing against anyone but myself.”

The NYC marathon is scheduled to take place Sunday, Nov. 6.