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Maren

@mareclarkk

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science and mountain lover, T1D advocate and juice box drinker
🏔️📚🪨💉🏃🏻‍♀️🧃👩🏻‍🔬

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Big ole forehead kiss to summer because it ended 17 days ago and I’m gonna spend the next 259 thinking about it by @mareclarkk

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7 days ago

September ——!!! Slowed down a bit, leaned on my people, reacquainted myself with my love of rocks, stared at the ocean, and did a lot of survival analysis (or tried to at least) by @mareclarkk

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12 days ago

On lizard time😁😄😊🦎🦎🦎 by @mareclarkk

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a month ago

Despite mortality being one of the few things connecting all of us, no one is ever comfortable talking about it. I would argue that not having to think about your mortality is a privilege.

T1Ds don't have that privilege.

There are 9.5 million people living with Type One Diabetes worldwide, and an additional estimated 4.1 million people people who would still be alive today but lost their lives to T1D. The reality is, T1Ds meet death quite often.

When you have T1D, staying alive is something you actively participate in every single day. Dose too little insulin. Die. Dose too much. Die. And it's not just insulin. It's food, exercise, stress, emotions, sleep, hormones, illness, and a million constantly changing variables you're expected to calculate to keep yourself alive.

I've met death in my bedroom at midnight, jolted awake cold, sweating, shaking, barely able to move, my CGM screaming at me. I've met it on trails, at work, in the aisle of Target, outside my high school waiting for my mom.
A severe low happens fast. The walls close in. Darkness creeps in from the edges. Your brain becomes foggy, your body barely moves, and sometimes you just look down at yourself and hope for the best. High blood sugars are different—much slower, but equally consuming. You're pulled down and under by quicksand, sinking in slow motion. And in either scenario, if you're lucky enough to worm your way out, you get up and go about your day as if nothing happened.

And that is why I don't sit down. Why I'm always doing too much. Why I'm always unrealistic.Because I know how fragile being alive can be.

T1D management has come incredibly far since I was diagnosed, and I am so grateful for that progress. But better management isn't the fix, a fix would be a cure.

Until then, I'll keep walking, advocating, and educating—for myself, for the 4.1 million people who should still be here, and for everyone who comes after me.
You guys have already helped me raise $7,000 of my $10,000 goal for Breakthrough T1D this year. If you want to help me get there, you can donate or join my walk team through the link in my bio and read my full reflection on Substack linked in bio as well⛰️💙 by @mareclarkk

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a month ago

August - camp slop & cowboy hats in Sangre de cristo, Mosquito range, La sals, San Juans, Schell creek, and Sierra Nevada by @mareclarkk

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2 months ago

slogged up a mountain with some badasses! This one felt extra special - leave it to the mountains to make me emo and sappy - tired eyes and feet, but a whole lot of soul food! I’ll save the rest for my notes app! <3 by @mareclarkk

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2 months ago

renditions of me outside 🤠🩷🦎⛰️ by @mareclarkk

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2 months ago

eenie meenie minie mo lay me down on a summer in the high alpine by @mareclarkk

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2 months ago

Last week, I shared glimpses of my day-to-day with T1D that I usually let happen quietly in the background. This week, I wanted to show you the other side - the places I carry it with me - the trail snacks, alpine lakes, climbs, CGM changes at the crag, and insulin site changes with pretty sick views. The inconveniences that have become my conveniences.
I’ve been fortunate enough to build a big life with T1D, and organizations like Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) have played a huge role in making that possible. This is my 24th year walking with Breakthrough T1D, and the life-changing advancements that have come from the research they fund are a huge part of why I get to do the crazy sh*t I do.
I’m raising money for Breakthrough T1D because I want future T1Ds to be able to ditch some of the weight from their packs and leave the extra supplies at home. To carry a satellite phone because they’re simply somewhere remote, not because T1D might take them out. To have more brain space for fun trip planning and less for knowing where the nearest hospital is “just incase!” i want a future where managing T1D takes up less space in a life that deserves to be filled with so much more.
But until then… I’ll keep chasing summits and chasing a cure.🏔️
If you want to help us get there, the link is in my bio to donate or share. Anything helps. 🩷 by @mareclarkk

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2 months ago

The past few years I’ve fallen completely in love with everything the West has to offer. But every summit, every climb, every trail run, every paddle, and every adventure comes with the invisible reality of living with Type One Diabetes.

Every day, someone with T1D makes 180–300 extra decisions. Now imagine making those decisions while climbing a rock wall, standing at 14,000 feet, crossing a ridgeline, or trying not to drop your insulin pump in a river. You don’t often see the blood sugars of 37, tears on mountainsides, turning around on runs because ketones are setting in and my body is giving out. I’ve wondered if I’m the problem, because that’s the narrative so many of us with T1D are taught to believe.

But the mountains have never questioned my diabetes management. The rocks have never asked if I’m “better yet.” The outdoors have only ever asked me to show up exactly as I am.

So I’ll keep choosing scary adventures because life with T1D was meant to be LIVED, not FEARED.

Today I celebrate my 23rd diaversary by kicking off another year of fundraising for Breakthrough T1D and my walk team, Maren’s Mob. The research, technology, and advocacy they’ve funded have made so many of my adventures possible, and they’re helping move us toward a future where no one has to make hundreds of extra decisions every single day.

💙 You can support me and Maren’s Mob by donating, joining the team, or sharing this post, links are in my bio. And if you want to read the full unfiltered story (including the blood sugar of 37, the 400 mg/dL trail run, and why I keep coming back to the mountains), you can find the full essay on my Substack, also linked in my bio. by @mareclarkk

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3 months ago

might let July linger around a little 🪲💃🏻🪩 by @mareclarkk

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3 months ago

Half a decade of you Colorado! Not sure where the time has gone, but I do know that 11 year old me was onto something, and that every time I go to the mountains I find bits of pieces of myself - old and new, funky sunglasses, bandanas, and all :’) by @mareclarkk

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3 months ago