Managing glucose during the race
For her first New York City Marathon, Amira Gee is preparing to manage blood sugar alongside the physical demands of the course. News 12 Brooklyn reports that she uses an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor, carries glucose gels and water, and has a monitor that sends readings to her devices and her mother’s phone. Her mother plans to watch along the route and bring backup supplies. Gee will run with Beyond Type 1’s team, whose members will wear yellow jerseys, according to News 12 Brooklyn.
The same News 12 report says Gee was mainly walking when she signed up. She then trained with a coach for about five months and completed a 20-mile run. The station reports that her preparation for marathon running has taken about nine years.
Diagnosis, training and research
News 12 reports that blood work for a life insurance application during Gee’s senior year of college led first to a Type 2 diagnosis; after a friend urged her to consult a specialist, she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The station says the diagnosis disrupted plans she had made after college. Gee is now a doctoral candidate at NYU School of Medicine, where her research concerns barriers to glycemic control among women with pregestational diabetes, according to her Children with Diabetes profile.
Gee has also said she hopes her marathon effort encourages others to pursue challenging goals and seek support, News 12 reports. Before deciding to run, she attended the marathon to cheer for friends on the Beyond Type 1 team, according to the station.
What a small study found
A 2025 observational study of 20 amateur runners at the Poznań Marathon included 10 people with Type 1 diabetes and 10 without diabetes. All 10 participants with Type 1 diabetes finished; their median time was 228 minutes, compared with 248 minutes for the control group. These findings were reported by MedicalXpress. The small study offers limited evidence and does not establish that marathon running is safe for every person with diabetes.
Gee is part of Beyond Type Run, a group of runners, caregivers and family members affected by diabetes. The group has about 80 participants for the 2026 New York City Marathon and is an official charity partner, according to Beyond Type 1’s announcement distributed by PR Newswire. The organization says it plans to field a team at the London Marathon in April 2027.
