Jéssica Fazzio: From First Steps to Her First Half Marathon
From struggling on the treadmill at 18 to completing her first half marathon, the athlete reflects on how running became her refuge.
Appearing on Girls Who Run, Jéssica Fazzio shares how running started as an outlet for mental health and recounts the story of her first half marathon. Through intuitive treadmill workouts and major life transitions, the sport became her anchor.
Although she is well known today in the amateur endurance scene for impressive personal bests, Jéssica Fazzio's relationship with road running had unpretentious beginnings, far from structured training plans and modern GPS watches. Appearing on the Girls Who Run videocast on the Stemma Sports channel, the athlete recalled that running first entered her life as an outlet for anxiety, long before it became a high-performance pursuit.
First Steps and the Treadmill Challenge
During childhood, Jéssica practiced swimming and tried sports like volleyball, tennis, and dance, encouraged by her mother, a former competitive volleyball player. However, at age 15, following a minor pool accident and facing a demanding study schedule at Colégio Vértice in São Paulo, she stepped away from sports. Her return to physical activity came only at 18, while studying for college entrance exams, when she took up Pilates.
On the advice of her Pilates instructor, who recommended adding aerobic exercise to her routine, Jéssica decided to get on her father's treadmill. The first attempt came as a shock: she couldn't run for even 30 consecutive seconds. That initial struggle turned into motivation. With encouragement from her father, she began chasing simple milestones, such as completing a 5K in 30 minutes and later finishing a 10K in under an hour.
Between 2012 and 2017, while studying Business Administration at FEA-USP, running remained an entirely solo habit without any formal structure. Jéssica would set the treadmill to 9.5 km/h (roughly 5.9 mph), put on headphones, and run for up to an hour and a half just to clear her head. There was no running coach, no GPS, and no intention to compete.
Boston Inspiration and Tackling 13.1 Miles
A turning point came in 2017 during a six-month study abroad program in Boston. Living with four American college students—one of whom ran for the university track team—Jéssica casually mentioned her dream of completing a half marathon. Her roommate's response, revealing she ran 13.1 miles every Sunday morning regardless of schedule or weather, ignited Jéssica's desire to take on the distance.
W21 Debut and Pushing New Limits
Upon returning to Brazil, Jéssica went through major life transitions: leaving professional theater behind to enter corporate marketing and navigating the end of a long-term relationship. Amid the upheaval, training for her first half marathon provided discipline and focus.
She made her 21K debut at the W21 women's race organized by Iguana Sports. Armed only with a basic Polar heart rate monitor used as a stopwatch and training entirely on her own, Jéssica crossed the finish line in approximately 2:20. The feeling of finishing instantly sparked a desire to pursue even longer distances and eventually take on the full 26.2-mile marathon.