Kelly Batty, 29, is the Runners Roost Runner of the Month for May. Running "is a way for me to stay grounded and make friends," she said.

Kelly Batty has run along the green coastline trails of Puget Sound, and she has trotted through the blue grass of Kentucky.

But when she describes her best run, it includes her 9-month-old daughter, Hanna Grace, the crisp Colorado air, and Pikes Peak on the horizon.

"Training runs with my girlfriends in Monument Valley Park have to be my favorite runs," Batty said. "We push the stroller, my daughter is with me and she's happy. For some reason, when I'm running with them, I think this is what it's all about."

And Batty's outlook, her willingness to find joy in every stride, is the reason she is the May Runners Roost Runner of the Month. She wins a new pair of Mizuno shoes to wear on her runs along Monument Creek. The Runner of the Month program is a combined effort of Runners Roost, Mizuno Shoes and PikesPeakSports.us.

Batty, 29, didn't begin to take running seriously until she moved to Colorado in 2009 and clocked a sub-24 in 5K the St. Patrick's Day run. But running is more than racing to her. Since her baby arrived, Batty has made discoveries about herself.

"I think I savor each run a lot more," she said. "I think this happens with a lot  of women. I get on the treadmill and I get ugly for 30 minutes because when you're a mom, it takes so much to get there. The time that it takes to load the baby stroller and then set it up. You don't think about your sore knee or whatever hurts. It doesn't matter, you just go."

And pushing Hanna Grace around has helped with her fitness. She and her friends take turns pushing Hanna Grace up the tormenting hills in the Garden of the Gods.

"Those hills will hammer you," Batty said. "By the time I get to the races I'm totally cruising."
She cruised in the Take 5 in the Garden 5K on May 5, winning her age group in 23:55.54, because "I wasn't running with the jogging stroller," she said.

Batty began running in middle school to get in shape for lacrosse and field hockey.

"I remember stepping outside and running down to the bottom of the hill and back," she said. "Then the distance got a little longer."

She and her husband Travis, an Army Capt., have migrated as the military life demands, landing in Seattle, where she loved the rain and consistent cool temperatures, and Louisville, Ky., where she found rolling hills for running. The couple also lived in the muggy air of Georgia and North Carolina. She said running has kept her grounded through the upheaval.

"We've pretty much lived all over, and I've always taken running with me," she said. "It's a way to connect, to stay grounded and make friends. I've found that my running friends are often by best friends."

And she loves the running community in Colorado Springs.

"When we're out for a run, you have Pikes Peak in the background and you see so many people you know, you just wave and enjoy the company," she said. "It's just awesome."