Community Profile: Cynthia Sager

In our latest Community Profile, we focus on a lady who has had a remarkable 20-year running, health, and fitness journey. Cynthia Sager is a regular Zwifter, a well-known Zwift run leader, and part of the Zwift Long Distance Runners (ZLDR) group.

Starting Out

Cynthia started running in 1999 shortly before getting pregnant with her first son Jordan. She joined the Running Room and signed up for a 10K clinic with a 10K race at the end. Once her son was born she bought a jogging stroller and started running again.

“I remember on Thursday nights we would run to the park to listen to jazz music and eat ice cream and then run back home. I was known around the neighborhood as the ‘running mom’.”

Cynthia has three boys Jordan (20), Cody (17), and Daniel (16). She started working at the Running Room where she became a running instructor for a “Learn to Run Clinic” and “5K” clinic. It wasn’t long before she became manager of one of the new Running Room locations.

“Running had completed me and I found that I enjoyed teaching people how to run,” she says.

Up to the Next Level

In 2006 Cynthia decided to become a Personal Trainer. She says she never accepts many of the excuses people make for why they can’t run. Having had reconstructive knee surgery she feels that if she can run, almost anyone can.

She has completed several races of varying distances over the years. Highlights include running the inaugural Las Vegas Marathon and taking part in the Maui Marathon for her 40th birthday.

Life on Hold

Then in 2011, Cynthia was swimming in a lake, training for a triathlon, when her body shut down. She made it back to shore and to the hospital, to be told that she had had a heart attack.

What followed was four years of diagnosis, operations, complications, and recovery. After having a pacemaker fitted and five further surgeries to correct problems Cynthia was finally given the green light to resume her life in 2016.

She moved from primarily cardio-based exercise to strength and fitness and took part in her first fitness competition in 2017 where she placed in the top 5. She promptly moved on to nationals in 2018.

Discovering Zwift

In the fall of 2018 Cynthia was introduced to Zwift for the first time after seeing her friends post their Watopia rides on social media. She persuaded her husband to buy a Wahoo KICKR which came with a free year of Zwift.

Having started cycling on Zwift in November 2018, Cynthia soon realized it was possible to run on Zwift and before 2019 rolled around, Cynthia had started experimenting with running as well as riding on Zwift. She says it took her a year to understand and learn the ‘game’. She knew nothing about group events, races, or even the different worlds.

“All I really did was ride around Watopia for anywhere from thirty to sixty minutes, or I would run on May Field track for 5K,” she explains.

“Zwift is my Life”

Today, Cynthia says, Zwift is her life.  “I’ve met fantastic people and have joined great groups.”

She has learned how to train properly using Zwift’s integrated tools, and with the support of the incredible ZLDR group.

She has now completed four half marathons in five weeks and has crushed her goal of running a half marathon in under two hours.

If you would like to run with Cynthia you’ll find her on Zwift almost every day leading group runs, joining organized events, or running solo around Watopia.