Hello! I'm Candace, 18, I'm from the heart of Missouri (seriously, I'm smack dab in the middle of it). If you want me to be completely honest with you, I have always hated running with a passion but yet have always been extremely jealous of people who are very athletic. I want to be a runner, I want to be able to run a marathon by the time I'm 24. I'm really excited about this though!

i'm Jackie, 34 from Birmingham, UK. I started running a few years ago, completed 2 half marathons one in 2012 & one in 2013. since the race for life 5k last June I haven't done anything! AT ALL!!! its time to get back on track and I have signed up for a 10k in May so need to get back at it.

HI all, Emma, 34, only joined MFP yesterday, haven't quite figured it all out yet, but I like this goal, I think its something that I can reasonably achieve. I run a bit, more so on the treadmill but trying to get out onto the roads; hope to do a few 10k s comfortably this year, fingers crossed

Happy New Years Eve! I'm Kelly from Georgia. I just started a walk/run schedule. My goal is to be able to run 6 miles by the end of 2015.

Hi I am Marie from ontario, I have never been a runner but would like to be. I enjoy walking so I know the 7 miles a week should be good for me and I am hoping by the end of the year I am running at least once a week a 5 mike run.

Hi! I'm Sharon from Georgia. I'm 42, and I am on the second day of week 1 in the Couch to 5K program. I am hoping to run a marathon before the end of 2015.

Kristin in Michigan. Although I wasn't the strongest runner, I was a runner. Tore my ACL in September at a mud run and have surgery planned for spring. Need to keep moving. For now it is only walking since the knee goes backwards and sideways. Have tried to get in some jogs but ouch. Off to buy new shoes to see if it helps. Thanks for the motivation to be consistent!

Hi. I'm Angelina from Malaysia. I want to start running and I think this group is a great platform for me to do it. I get to run and the best part is I know somewhere, at the other side of the globe, I have new friends running with me!

I'm Chandalynn from Missouri. I've tried running a few times, but have never been able to keep with it whether it be weather or injury, but this year I'm not going to allow myself to make any excuses. My goal is to run my first 5K this summer.

Hi, all--I love the idea of this challenge and hope it helps keep us all consistently motivated throughout the year.

I'm Stephanie, 45, from Chicago (where, as for many of you, winter weather can be a challenge). I used to run a lot and did various races, including the Chicago Marathon some years ago (I was never terribly fast, but liked distance, to a point). Then, through various life things I stopped exercising and gained a bunch of weight. When I decided to lose it and get back into shape near the beginning of last year one of the things I most looked forward to was getting back into running and hiking and just walking a lot, and that ended up being one of the things I'm proudest of from this past year--I got back into a regular running schedule, built up my mileage, and completed two half marathons. But now that it's cold I've been struggling to keep up a regular schedule, and plus I'm on guard against the temptation to fall back into old bad (sedentary) habits. Hoping to avoid that and have fun starting off this year in pretty decent shape and looking forward to my first race of the year (another half) the weekend before St Patrick's Day. (That's also an anniversary of sorts, as it's both when I first ran outside last year and when I started actively participating at MFP.)