To Monika Allen, the tutu she wore was more than a fashion statement.
The tutu was a way of life. It was a symbol to say that she was going to dress the way she wanted while living with terminal cancer.
The woman who helped make tutu running popular in San Diego and around the world, after a publicized back-and-forth with SELF magazine several years ago, died last week after a long battle with brain cancer. She was 38, and she leaves behind a husband, David, and a daughter born in 2015.
Friends and those who never met Allen have been honoring her through social media posts. They remember the cofounder of Glam Runner—an organization that sold tutus to raise money for the San Diego chapter of Girls on the Run—for continuing to run races, never showing signs of weakness against the disease she was fighting.
“It was her way of living life,” Tara Baize, longtime friend and cofounder of Glam Runner, told Runner’s World. “It made her feel alive.”
In 2014, SELF magazine asked for a photo of Baize and Allen crossing the finish line at the 2013 L.A. Marathon in tutus. The magazine included that photo in its section called the “BS Meter,” where it poked fun at Allen and Baize for wearing the garb while running.
To the magazine, it was a fashion faux pas. But editors weren’t aware of the entire story.
Allen and Baize started selling tutus to help raise money for Girls on the Run, the after-school program that inspires young girls through running. Baize and Allen met as coaches at Girls on the Run and soon became board members of the San Diego chapter.
And that 2013 L.A. Marathon was Allen’s first after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Allen, who ran almost 20 marathons before her diagnosis, wore a Wonder Woman shirt with a tutu, running side by side with her friend Baize. She was undergoing chemotherapy during training and after the race.
What instead turned into a faux pas for SELF became a boon to Glam Runners as the story was shared widely on social media. Allen and Baize were flooded with orders for tutus. Allen appeared with Katie Couric to tell her story, and SELF wrote a public apology and did away with its “BS Meter” column.
“People contacted us from all over the world, ordering tutus and telling Monika what an inspiration she was,” Baize said. “Many cancer survivors were motivated to get out there and do their first race. We still get so many messages from people who never actually met her saying that she was such a big influence on them.”
People continue to post on the Glam Runner Facebook page pictures of themselves running in tutus. One gentleman recently posted a picture from Sydney, Australia.
Meanwhile, Allen was living and running with the effects of the tumor.
“She continued to live life like she was going live forever,” said Maria Mello, board director of the San Diego chapter of Girls on the Run.
Baize said that she and Allen were running the last couple of months with the hopes of participating in the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach, California, in early February. But Baize said Allen’s headaches made her too weak to continue long runs. Baize said Allen would continue to be a positive force in the hospital even as her condition worsened.
“She was still trying to make us laugh,” Baize said. “That’s how it was on runs. That’s why it was so easy to run hours and hours with her and miles over the years because she was just such good company. I really can’t believe I don’t have that anymore.”
Baize said she is planning on hosting a 5K in Allen’s honor with a unicorn theme, because she knows Allen would want to see people dress up in tutus as one of her favorite creatures. There is no set date for the 5K.
The San Diego chapter of Girls on the Run has established a scholarship in Allen’s name.
“She got people together and she did it in a way that from the tutus, visually she stands out,” said Kim Martini, a Girls on the Run board member. “Her personality stood out, too. She was just somebody you wanted to be around.”
