Mandy Antoniacci

Author. TED Speaker. Marathoner. Rep’d by @parkandfine.
Currently tucked away writing my book. Sign up for updates, letters, and things that move me. 📩

[Mandy Antoniacci @MandyAntoniacci]

A #NewYear ‘s Resolution for us all:

A year ago today I took my 1st steps post my second spinal surgery. As you can see, baby steps then weren’t easy. 👣

As my recovery continued I kept saying to my surgeon, repeatedly, “I just want to be myself again...https://t.co/azXGxq0W9n

[Mandy Antoniacci @MandyAntoniacci]

@AntoniacciNico Whooo-hooo! I’m so proud of you, nephew! 💙💙 #NovaNico

[NEW YORK KNICKS @nyknicks]

see you there 🧡💙

[Mandy Antoniacci @MandyAntoniacci]

To the team at Memorial Sloan Kettering: thank you for the extraordinary care you showed my mom, for fighting for people on the hardest days of their lives, and for letting me run alongside you.

And to every person whose name I carried on my back and in my heart: thank you.
You carried me too. 🧡

[Mandy Antoniacci @MandyAntoniacci]

Every story eventually finds its ending. Mine seem to find finish lines.

The last time I posted here before disappearing, I had just run the Philadelphia marathon, my first race after all of my spinal surgeries. My mother wasn’t there, which was strange for her because she’s always there. She wasn’t feeling well, though we didn’t yet know why. That night, I arrived at her house, and I did not leave for 17 months.

Caregiving has a strange way of collapsing time. If you’ve ever cared for someone you love, you know how one day bleeds into the next, and the next, until suddenly you look up and seasons have changed, holidays have passed, and somewhere in the middle of trying to help someone else survive, you realize, you’ve disappeared a little too.

[Mandy Antoniacci @MandyAntoniacci]

Then one day, something cracks open—like a bridge, a way through. For me, it was quite literally the Brooklyn Bridge at the start of the NYC Half Marathon. The race began in Brooklyn and ended in Manhattan, my home, carrying me out of one chapter and somehow back into my life again.

Here I am afterward, holding my medal as part of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s racing team. My donors’ names were written across my back, and down my arm, the reason I ran: “MOM.”

Together, we raised over $400,000 for cancer research.

This moment mattered to me more than I can explain, for reasons that had nothing to do with miles or medals. It was because there was a time I genuinely didn’t know what the other side of this chapter would look like. Or whether we’d ever get there at all. Which is probably why so many of those miles were run through lip-quivering tears and frozen snot-sicles. ☺️

But we made it to the finish line.

[Mandy Antoniacci @MandyAntoniacci]

But…the good news, the merciful news, is that we are finally in a place of freedom from it, as my mom is doing beautifully. We’re finally feeling what it’s like to exhale again over here. We’re planning again. Sleeping again. Just yesterday, she looked at me and said, “You need a few inches off your hair and a few pounds on your bones,” which means, she’s mothering me again. It’s heavenly. Like walking out into sunlight after living underground for a very long time.

So, my mom’s now getting her life back. Slowly, I am too. I’m returning to my manuscript, this space, my beautiful city, and returning to myself a little bit each day.

To everyone who stayed here while I was gone, thank you for waiting.

And to my mom, who isn’t on social media, but is sitting right next to me as I read this aloud:
I am so lucky that you held my hand first.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. ♥️🌷

[Mandy Antoniacci @MandyAntoniacci]

For the last 17 months, I've been holding my mother's hand as she battled cancer. ‘My mom has cancer.’ It’s hard to describe the weight of those words, except to say it feels like falling and never hitting the ground. I disappeared from this space, and frankly from the world, because her diagnosis was fast-moving and aggressive, and I made a decision, without really making it at all, to try and be quicker than it.

I know there are many of you reading these words who understand this immediately, where the world keeps spinning for everyone else while your entire existence narrows down to scan results and medications and appointments and portals and pain and waiting for doctors to call back.

I became that person. I became her person—completely and invisibly, during what has been the hardest 17 months of our lives.

[SV Sports @svsports]

Nico Antoniacci is averaging 44.3 points in his first 3 games 🔥
The 6’3 soph. guard from Riverside has offers from Syracuse, Marquette and PSU.
We saw Nico drop 40 points and hit seven 3s vs. Penncrest.
His range is sick!
@AntoniacciNico
@SCNext
@espn
@overtime
@MaxPreps

[Times-Tribune sports @sportsTT]

BOYS BASKETBALL: Antoniacci starts season with 53 points in first half of victory over WVW https://t.co/GztWipADyn

[Nico Antoniacci @AntoniacciNico]

Blessed to receive an offer from Marquette University!

[NEPA Elite Basketball @NEPA_Elite]

📝 WRITEUP: 2028 @AntoniacciNico — plays two levels up on 17U HGSL Dempsey in the Showcase division.

https://t.co/y7GjUmp4Iz

In a 73-55 win v Middlesex Magic HGAL:
🔹 41 PTS
🔹 14/22 FG (64%)
🔹 9 threes, shooting 7-for-9 in second half
🔹 4/4 FT

📲 Coach @tadempsey4

#BeELITE

[Paul Biancardi @PaulBiancardi]

My Best from @TheHoopGroup Pittsburgh Jam Fest.

[Mandy Antoniacci @MandyAntoniacci]

@zzeker @Philly_Marathon @Nike @Runkeeper Thank you! 🙏

[Mandy Antoniacci @MandyAntoniacci]

Happy birthday to me! 🎁🏅
Two weeks ago, I ran my first marathon. Not my first ever, but my first after eight spinal surgeries. My first after learning how to walk again, how to trust my body again, how to believe in something beyond the pain.

It also happened to be my birthday. And this year, this race was my gift to myself—one I wasn’t sure I’d ever unwrap. I didn’t show up to chase a clock or some version of me I’ve long since left behind. I showed up to honor the strength it took to get here. To celebrate the person I’ve become.

I’ve been away from this space for a while, working on my book, my body, and frankly, my mind. It’s been a season of reckoning and rebuilding. A season of asking myself what’s possible when the odds tell you otherwise.

So, if you’re carrying something heavy—something that feels endless—please know this: what you’re moving toward is closer than it seems, even when it hurts, even when you’re tired, even when the voice in your head tries to convince you to stop.

And who you are now, in this very moment, is worth celebrating. 🎉

Thank you for waiting for me. Thank you for walking (and now running) beside me.

Keep going.
I love you. ♥️💪

[Mandy Antoniacci @MandyAntoniacci]

@clipsgirl @Philly_Marathon @Nike @Runkeeper Thank you! 🙏

[Mandy Antoniacci @MandyAntoniacci]

@BroMarkMahan Thank you so much!!🙏🙏

[New York Yankees @Yankees]

Your 2024 American League Champions: The New York Yankees.

[NYPD NEWS @NYPDnews]

In an annual tradition, the Tribute of Lights feature two beams that symbolize the Twin Towers in remembrance of the September 11 attacks. This visible display stands as a sign of the city's resilience, strength, and hope in the aftermath of September 11, honoring the lives that were tragically cut short in the tragedy #NeverForget

[Mandy Antoniacci @MandyAntoniacci]

@MLBONFOX @mroctober .@mroctober You are a hero, Reggie. Thank you. 🙏

[FOX Sports: MLB @MLBONFOX]

“Coming back here is not easy.”

Reggie Jackson shares his emotions of visiting Rickwood Field.