Sports quickly crossed Ali Truwit’s mind after she survived a shark attack off the coast of Turks and Caicos in 2023. But the former Yale freestyler, who went on to win two Paralympic silver medals, was not thinking about swimming.

“Was I ever going to run again?” Truwit remembers wondering. “It was on my mind immediately when I lost my foot, like on the boat ride back to shore.”

Just two years later, Truwit is preparing to run the TCS New York City Marathon on her prosthetic blade on Nov. 2.

“When those training cycles get hard, when things feel frustrating that I’m running on one foot when I used to do it on two,” she said, “I remind myself of how grateful I am to be doing something that I thought I would never be able to do again. It is such a cool gift that I now have to be able to run when I truly thought I had lost it.”

Growing up, Truwit swam competitively but ran for fun.

“I have always used it as a mood booster,” she said.  “When I’m in a bad mood, I go for a run and I feel better. And I was worried that that was gone.”

Truwit was raised by a running family that participated in a turkey trot every Thanksgiving.

When her grandfather, a competitive runner, died her junior year of college, Truwit decided to honor his memory by signing up to run the Copenhagen Marathon with her mother the following year.

“I crossed the finish line alongside my mom on Mother’s Day,” Truwit said. “It doesn’t get much sweeter.”

Just 10 days after completing the 2023 Copenhagen Marathon in under four hours, Truwit experienced the shark attack.

After the shark attack, Truwit had just one year to train to swim competitively at the Paris Paralympics.

“That first year was really focused on swimming and learning to love the water again,” Truwit said. “Now I’m working one-by-one to gain those life passions back, and running is next.”

Learning to run on a prosthetic blade has not been easy.

“I’m one year into using a prosthetic blade,” she said, “so it’s a constant learning journey and things are still very reactive and sensitive.”

The biggest challenge is that during long runs, she has to stop and remove her prosthetic leg to dry off the sweat. She said this has led to “really funny” situations.

“In the middle of [a turkey trot] race, I had to stop in someone’s backyard to use their post and change my leg,” she remembered. “We turn around at the end and there was a Ring camera and I was like, ‘Someone’s going to watch their footage back and be like, ‘What is going on in my backyard?’’”

Truwit is planning on running the TCS New York City Marathon, which is produced by New York Road Runners, with a group of 12, including her parents and two friends, Sophie Pilkinton and Hannah Walsh. Pilkinton applied the tourniquet to help save Truwit’s life on the boat after the shark attack while Walsh cared for Truwit in the hospital. 

“The support around me really is what has enabled me to come back,” Truwit said.

Truwit is fundraising for her nonprofit, Stronger Than You Think, to buy prosthetic blades for young women and girls. She has set a fundraising goal of $100,000. Her fans can donate on Rally Up.

“The success of how much I can fundraise, how much I can give to other people is driving me the most in this training,” Truwit said.

Truwit is enjoying her running journey but remains committed to qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics in swimming. She believes running has improved her performance in the pool in multiple ways.

“It always helps to have a strong cardio base and running 20 miles has definitely helped,” she said. “It will also make me a better swimmer to just feel hopeful and joyful about the things that I’m working to build back to in my life.”

Truwit has a much loftier goal on race day than running a certain time.

“If someone leaves and their perception of what people with disabilities are capable of,” she said, “that is success for me.”